They Don't Stay Dead, Do They?
by revoltninja
Summary: The Utrom Shredder has been defeated. So has the Tengu Shredder. And so has the CyberShredder. But why don't they stay down? Ninja Tribunal, the Acolytes, and some new shadows. Going to develop into a crossover. post-BTTS and post-Turtles Forever
1. Sewer Sweet Sewer

_**Here's the first chapter of my fic, so bear with me. There are more coming. I've also decided to make this a crossover between two different universes, the Turtles and one with a shadow.**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I DO NOT own TMNT.

* * *

_(at the lair, looking at the result of Hun's attack)_

All was peaceful in the land of New York. Birds were chirping, car engines were humming, and best of all, city officials were trying to get that blasted crater made by the Technodrome of that intersection. Zoom to a Central Park pond where flocks of birds are fleeing from what appears to be an over-obnoxious noise.

"No no no no no, this can't be happening! Not Space Armada Deluxe!" cried the oranged-banded turtle to the heavens.

"Hehehehehe," Donny replied, sheepishly. "Look on the bright side, bro. The storage room survived"

"But Donny, the ultra thin TV, the Wii, and….storage room? Since when did you have a storage room?"

"Yea genius. What's with keeping us outta the loop" questioned Raph.

"Just a precaution and a new place to keep the new and upgraded TekPaks. Ever since Karai attacked our old lair, I've always been planning escape routes and secret rooms to resupply for such an occasion."

Leo was surveying some rubble and occasionally pulling something out. He was apparentlly looking for something. He lifted a slab of concrete out of the way and uncovered Mikey's skateboard. He tossed it.

"Could you just get on with it, Donny. Our lair is trashed and we still have to find another one," insisted a nervous Leo as he walked up to Mr. 200+ IQ.

"Already on it, Leo. Hey Raph, would you be so kind as to hand me a sai?"

With a grunt, he snatched one out of his belt and tossed it to Donny. Donny grabbed the point of the sai between his two fingers. He drew his hand back and flung it back at Raph, point-first.

"Raphael/Raph!"

"Donny, what the shell are you thinkin'" inquired/yelled/hollered Raph as he ducked.

Raph is a person who would hold on to his possessions even if it kills him. His sai's were his babies, and every once an a while he'd let someone else have them, but it was with reluctance. So when he gives his sai to you, you're definitely on his watchlist. Now, we have a situation where Raph gave Donny his precious sai, and right after that, he threw it at red-band's head. What does that equals? No Raphy-boy points.

Back to "Fly the Pointy Sai Express". The sai zipped an inch above his head and speared into the wall. Raph definitely was going to have a "talk" with Donny after he got up. A trapdoor opened beneath them and all five fell through the express elevator. Donny and Splinter landed on their feet, while the others fell around them like hail. The room they were in was pitch dark. Dust was flying in the air from their impact with the floor.

"Hey Mikey, get off my shell," ordered Raph as his voice broke the silence. The three affected turtles started getting off one another and dusting themselves off.

"OWWWWW," howled Mikey as he stubbed his toe on a table leg in the dark. "OK Donny, where are the lights?"

Donny clapped two times and lights starting flickering on in row. "Welcome to Geek Heaven," presented Donatello with a bow.

Four pairs of mutant eyes went wide, marveling at the contents of the so-called storage room. On one wall was backup set of all their weapons, training weapons, and shuriken. Lining another wall were tables with the new TekPaks, various other prototypes, and some blueprints. On one of the tables, was a pair of shinobi clothes for each turtle and four rubber disks. Each one was covered in one of the ninja's respective colors.

"Uh Donny," asked Leo, "what are these clothes for?"

"April said we had no sense of fashion," Donny deadpanned. "So I made two suits for each of us."

"Two?" everyone echoed. They only saw four pair of shinobi wear. Donny nodded

Imbedded in another wall were ten crystals from their old lair. The last wall bore a door frame that led into a hallway.

"I've been waiting to show this to you guys," Donny said, heading towards the blueprints.

Raph walked up to the wall containing his replacement sai and lifted them from their hooks. "I figure you owed me a new pair of sai, since you tossed my last one at my head," said Raph, twirling his new pair.

Donny chuckled nervously as he walked up the table containing the blueprints. He picked one up and studied it. He reached acrossed the table and grabbed a pencil. He drew a star and circled, before motioning the others to come. He tossed the rolled up paper to an approaching Leo, who unfurled it. The others gathered around him.

"Donny, this is a map of New York's sewage system. But the symbols are unfamiliar. They almost look…Elantian (hope I spelled that right)," said Leo slowly as his head went up in realization. Everyone gasped again.

"Yep, that's right," explained Donny, "I picked these up the last time we were down there. There are more Elantian outposts in New York, and this one's the closest."

"So, that's where we're camping out," asked Mikey as he rubbed his head in questioning.

"No, Michelangelo," replied Splinter as he shook his head sagely, "We're living there."

"Each of you grab your TekPaks and two crystals," instructed Donny, "I'm getting the rest of this stuff out of here."

"And exactly HOW are you going to do that in one trip," asked Mikey as he put on his TekPak.

"Easy."

Donny pulled out a remote and pushed a button. A door flew up and a triceraton carrier (remember those Triceratons chasing the turtles through the sewers?) hovers in front of them.

"Oooh. Nice toy," said Raph and Mikey in unison.

After loading the prototypes and blueprints, the carrier followed them as they all headed into the hallway. Torches lined the hallway as they approached a dead end.

"So, Donny, what in the world made you think this was an escape route," questioned Raph with his arms crossed.

"This," replied Donny as he phased through the "wall". A hologram? Donny popped his head back in.

"I installed it last week. Come on."

They walked into the hologram and ended up in the sewers. They made their way to their new home.

* * *

_(at the outpost)_

"Well, this ain't lookin' like the last brick house we lived in," commented Raph. You can always count on Raph to speak his mind, can't you?

The outpost was a mess like the first time they arrived at the old one. Wires lay everywhere. But the overall look of the house was different. Instead of a couple of rooms here and there, there were eight rooms on the second floor and seven on the first. It didn't even have a pond. Mikey grabbed his cat and leapt to the second floor. He spared no time staking his claim.

"This…comic book archive. That….life-size superhero figures. That is my room. And as always, the Turtle Titan must always have a lair," said Mikey as he claimed four of the rooms for himself.

"Or we can make this simple and let the crystal do the work for us," said Donatello, tracing his finger along a pathway in the wall (remember what Raptarr did?). A platform with crystal descended from the ceiling.

"Whoa," Raph whistled, "sweet trick, Donny. How'ja do it?"

Donny raised his forefinger (remember, he only has two fingers). "Na 'uh 'uh," he tisked, "A good technician never reveals his secrets." The platform reached the outpost floor. "Besides, certified geniuses only," he joked as he poked Mikey's forehead. Mikey's eye twitched.

"Please, please, please, PUUULLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEE," begged Mikey, now on his hands and knees. "Must teach me the way of the finger!"

"No," snapped Donny, leaving no room for argument. He pulled his two crystals out of his belt. "Hey guys, you know those crystals you grabbed out of the old lair. I want you to take those out of your belt. When I give you the signal, throw those crystals that you have in your hands into the platform. Try to make sure that the crystals you throw interlock with the crystals on the platform. Got it?"

His brothers and sensei each gave him a nod. Slowly, they brought out their crystals. There was a crystal in each hand, each one in throwing position. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

"Do you know where there is a bathroom around here? Cuz, me wants'um take a potty break," piped Mikey. His brothers look at him, their eyes twitching in annoyance.

"Okay guys, throw your crystals in….now!" commanded Donny.

They all threw their crystals into the platform, thankfully securing them in. A light within the crystal base began to glow brightly and spread out. The glow started draining into the ground, turning the entire outpost white for a moment. Bricks started coming out of the walls and spinning around the room. The walls turned liquid and started forming odd shapes. As the walls settled down and became solid, bricks flew in stuck to the walls in a different order. Raph and Mikey went for the bag, while Leo stared dead on. Everything became quiet and the outpost had turned into a perfect replica of the lair that Karai trashed. It even had the lake in the middle of the room. The platform of crystal ascended into the ceiling.

"But, Donny…how?" Raph sputtered. You know moments in time were someone does something really awesome with absolutely no logical explanation whatsoever? That's what the four (remember, Donny knew this would happen...I think) mutants were experiencing at that moment.

"Remember when I was studying those crystals? I put them under an electron microscope, a saw signs of a circuit. And then I remembered an Elantian say that those crystals powered everything. I theorized that these crystals were programmed to hold our old lair in that shape and power it. And when we threw our crystals into the ones powering this outpost, the crystals' programming overrode that of the outpost's and morphed this whole place to a perfect image of our old lair. Everything's back to the way it was supposed to be."

"Uh, in English, Donnyboy?" asked Mikey intelligently as he spoke for every non-techwhiz sentient in the entire sewer system.

"Look at it this way. Those crystals held the blueprints to our old lair before it was uhm...destroyed by Karai." Every turtle (and rat) there winced. "When we put those crystals in, this outpost just shifted into the image of our old lair. Now, hand me that Sewer Sweet Sewer sign."

* * *

_(after three weeks)_

It had taken a while, but after they passed a few hurdles and some lazy mutants (I'm not going to mention) taking impromtu naps, they finally got the lair looking suitable. Leatherhead, April, and Casey visited from time to time. The lair was much closer to Leatherhead's pad than it had been before. Things were starting to look up. Splinter, however, was acting a little on edge. Something was bothering him.

While the turtles were in their rooms doing who knows what, low whine starting coming from the main room. The turtles ran out of their rooms and unto the landings, staring at the strange energy growing right on the bridge above the lake. The red spinning energy grew until it was the size of an office chair. The energy faded, revealing a hovering man in a red Tribunal gown with the markings, and a shredder helmet with the red eyes. Whoever thinks this is Oroku Saki, I'm gonna laugh. This guy was midget. His size gave him a humorous touch, however the look in his eyes was dead serious.

His eyes narrowed.

"You have been summoned."

* * *

_**Ooooh. Evil Cliffhanger. I know. BTW, this is the new and edited (and hopefully, upgraded) version. I'm changing the time the Ninja Tribunal summoned them to give the story some more flexibility. The pictures of the Turtles in their new shinobi clothes are below, just ignore the new weapons they're wielding (take the spaces out of the links when you put them in the browser):**_

_**Shinobi Leonardo: **_flickr . com /photos/terrible2z/3472768487/in/set-72157603811053044/

_**Shinobi Raphael: **_flickr . com /photos/terrible2z/3473571966/in/set-72157603811053044/

_**Shinobi Michelangelo: **_flickr . com /photos/terrible2z/3472765591/in/set-72157603811053044/

_**Shinobi Donatello: **_flickr . com /photos/terrible2z/3473580492/in/set-72157603811053044/

**_Shado-Ookami: Thanks for pointing out the error in the links._**

_**I still don't know if I'm going to keep the full-face masks or not. Read the bottom in the description were it says "i think i can somewhat safely assume this is unused ****Ninja Tribunal** ,alternate TMNT costume design by Barrios". That's what the Turtles are going to where from now on. It's not like I don't like their current outfit right now, it's just the new outfits give them (in my opinion) a more epic look. I'm giving you three guesses who this new guy is. What is he/she the Ninjutsu Master of? And, before I forgot, there's a new poll. Check it out._


	2. We Need More

**I have a new poll up. Just so you know, next chapter comes after I get results from the poll.**

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT own TMNT.

* * *

_(flashback (one week before Sewer Sweet Sewer), cut to Ninja Tribunal monastery)_

Five figures were gathered in the oratory of the Ninja Tribunal monastery. All five seats on the "stage" were occupied. Floating 5 feet above the pond that was directly in front of them is a levitating vertical disk of water. This water had served a mystical TV which was currently being used to watch a meeting that gave the five forces of nature an ominous feeling. The levitating TV began draining back into the pond once the evil television program had come to an end, courtesy of "Shredder and His Foot".

"Chikara, what do you make of this?" inquired Kon, the Ninjutsu Master of Spirit as he turned toward the glowing green-eyed master. Although it was a question, it sounded more like a statement.

"It seems the Evil One has escaped our grasp silently and cheated death once again," Chikara replied with a hollow chuckle that contained no traces of amusement. "However, this time, he has not laid dormant for 17 centuries, but instead a few years. Yet, his power seems to be growning in his dormancy, even if it is at a very slow pace."

"True," continued the red-eyed midget master, "But, however, this is not what worries me. It is his potential to expand his power beyond known measures. His power is slightly growning, but it is his potential to secure his reign once he conquers it that has increased exponentially. No doubt caused by the recent factors that have started popping up in different places in the world," he said with a disappointed shake of the head. "His capability and command advanced minions as seen here is also disturbing."

"Our current acolytes themselves aren't enough. We need more acolytes capable of manipulating chi," concluded Juto. Hisomi nodded.

"When the time comes, we shall all summon our acolytes. You," Kon said, turning to the short one, "shall summon the Turtles. Hisomi, you shall summon Adam and Joi. Juto, you shall summon Feraji and Tora. I shall summon...HER." His silver eyes glowed.

They all sat cross-legged in their chairs and began meditating. Chi swirled all around them, and they all began hovering to one of five spots along the circumference of the lake/pond. All their eyes glowed immensely, and two figures slowly blurred into the lake/pond. One wearing black and grey, and the other wearing black and blue. Both of them showed impressive stealth skills, and were blending into the night.

"The journey begins again. The wheel turns once more!"

* * *

**Don't you just LOVE the cliffhangers? This is the new and re-edited version. Like I said before, the results of the poll influence were this story's going. The story is going to stay in flashback mode (still a couple of weeks before the first chapter) for the next couple chapters.**


	3. Honor

**DISCLAIMER: **I DO NOT own TMNT, Batman, Batman Beyond, or Nightwing. If I did, every show mentioned would have a new season.

A/N: This timeline is after TNBA episode "Old Wounds". However, Nightwing is in Bludhaven as was seen in JLU episode "Grudge Match". BTW, for those who aren't fans of Batman, Two-Face is Harvey Dent and Batman is Bruce Wayne.

* * *

_(an alley in Gotham City)_

"Señor Two-Face, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you. Am I to assume you've summoned me here to make transaction" inquired a heavy voice with a smirk.

"Apparently, you're smarter than what people are saying about you nowadays," retorted a gruff Two-Face, his coin spinning in the air, always falling back into his awaiting palm.

Bane snarled and Dent's goons' hands went toward their gun holsters.

"Skip the insults and let's get to the sweet goods, estupidez. I've been waiting to break a few wings."

"Hey boss, are you sure this alley's safe," pitched in a goon who was concerned for their privacy.

"I assure you Señor Dent; we'll be free of any spies. I decided to take a little excursion during my free time and convinced a few of our neighbors to go on a….extended vacation," replied the behemoth with a sadistic smile.

Two-Face turned his head from his goon to Bane.

"Three weeks ago, I paid a little…visit…to a facility. Not just any facility, a government facility, about thirty miles away from Gotham. It appears they were carrying out…experiments…on a few choice criminals. Some succeeded, some didn't. The criminal with their new-found powers began to rampage, but they were…subdued. The chemicals were far more interesting than the subjects. It was the Cuban venom with a couple enhancements. High invulnerability, superhuman stamina, and limited flight."

Several stories above, with one foot on the edge and one knee on the ground, was Gotham's favorite bat. Surprise and horror were etched across his normally stoic features. It was no different from the look on Bane's face.

The look of surprise remained on the billionaire's face. His comtemplated his friend's life as he was the encounter below. 'No, Harvey Dent is dead,' he thought. 'Maybe a small part of him is alive, remembering all those that cared about him. But on the outside, all that remains is Two-Face.'

Fanatical interest streaked across Bane's face.

"Why don't you use it on yourself?"

"It so seems, that due to my little _accident_, the minute amount of acid in my blood is able to negate the wanted effects," explained Two-Face

"How many samples do you have," inquired Bane.

"Four samples, including the rare minerals I stole from the facility, and the formula on how to make more."

"How much are you asking for?"

Two-Face smirked. He just loved being in control.

"Eight million dollars, all directed to my English account."

Bane pulled four credit cards from his pocket (A/N: I don't think ANYONE would pickpocket him) and tossed them to the crime lord.

"Scan'em," ordered Two-Face as he handed them to the lackey at his right without turning. The gang member took out his laptop and ran the scan.

"It's all here, boss," concluded the goon.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Bane," said Two-Face as the briefcase was tossed towards the Cuban.

Batman chose this time to take out an explosive batarang and throw it to intercept the briefcase's trajectory. The projectile made contact and exploded, creating a huge smoke cloud and sending shrapnel in all directions. Three distinct screams of pain were heard resonating through the lonely Gotham streets. When the smoke cleared, six figures in a strange version of samurai armor stood between the two factions. They had wooden tonfas and facemasks with eight horizontal slits.

"Who are you," yelled a furious Bane. Spending nine million dollars on a valued item now destroyed by a couple idiots playing dress-up would do that to you, or so he thought.

"Hmm, looks like we have a new player in the game of Gotham," piped Two-Face.

The warriors just stood there, clearly uninterested in the guns that were aimed at them. All of a sudden, they bowed.

Batman, still perched on the rooftop, was baffled. Then again, so was everyone at the scene. These warriors displayed a code of honor very rare in this city, Bushido. A bang echoed through the now packed alley. More followed as the masked warriors leaped into the air, while Batman swooped down, and double-teamed with a warrior against Bane. However, before he could advance, the warrior held his arm out with a tonfa, beckoning him to sit this fight out. Batman refused to comply, ducked under the arm, and ran towards Bane. The warrior pulled his cape and threw him into the alley, forcing his point across. This time, Bruce complied.

Gunfire was pouring out of their guns as five warriors rushed Two-Face's gang. Bullets repeatedly punctured their facemasks, yet the warriors kept advancing. Bruce could practically feel the punches and kicks the goons were receiving. As if the fact that they followed Bushido was enough, they engaged them with a rare form of ninjutsu that a select few in the world knew, Bruce noted (A/N: no, he has not met the Ninja Tribunal). It was one of the very few that he hadn't yet mastered.

Bane stampeded after the warrior, putting as much weight into his punches as he could. He pocketed his tonfas as fighting an unarmed opponent wouldn't be fair (A/N: do you think we should make an exception for Bane?). Bane pounded and pounded while the warrior kept his arms at a cross, defending himself incase a punch got through. Bane drove his fight into the warrior's arm, bending it at an odd angle. He expected a sickening "snap", not the appendage bending back into place. Bane couldn't get any angrier as he found an opening and rammed the warrior's face.

"What are these guys made of," cried an exasperated lackey.

As if on cue, the facemasks cracked and fell off, revealing faceless and expressionless wooden stumps. Everyone but the warriors let out a gasp as the puncture "wounds" started healing before their very eyes.

Bane and Two-Face staggered back as the warriors rushed them. A punch and a swing kick knocked two goons out. Two axe kicks sent the remaining lackeys into an unconscious state. The last two warriors sent a roundhouse kick to Bane's and Two-Face's temples, effectively knocking them out.

They all turned to face Batman, who was standing near the wall with a ghost of a scowl emanating in his features. It's not like he was expecting this. Five of the six warriors receded into the shadows. The remaining warrior bowed and got into a stance. Batman followed suit.

* * *

**Now this is getting a little bit more interesting. This is the new and re-edited version, that is, if you count editing Batman's thoughts a change. Honestly, this is the first chapter were I feel proud of the fact that it didn't need much editing (that's my opinion). Next chapter continues Batman's encounter with the Mokusai no Bushi. And maybe we will see Nightwing being introduced. The poll on my profile is still up if you want to vote. R&R**


	4. Retrieval

**DISCLAIMER: **I DO NOT own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, or Nightwing. DC Comics owns Batman and Nightwing, while Nickelodeon owns Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

* * *

Bruce drew two batarangs as daggers while he and Mokusai (A/N: That's their new name from now on) rounded each other, scanning each other for a weakness. He mulled over his options. First choice was to release smoke bombs or tear gas. However, doing that against a wooden creature that had no eyes, nose, or ears was not exactly a wise choice. Second choice was to go into an all-out taijutsu battle against a self-healing opponent. Not the best choice either.

Deciding to go for the second choice, Bruce charged Mokusai. Mokusai sidestepped the first jab while kicking for Bruce's head. Bruce ducked and swept Mokusai's feet off the ground. Mokusai flipped and landed feet first, albeit having his back turned towards Bruce.

He took advantage of the Mokusai's blindness and took out an ice pellet. Mokusai's head twisted 180 degrees as he saw the pellet going for his feet. He jumped and went for the fire escape ladder. However, he stopped and saw a thick icicle hold his feet only a foot from the ground. Mokusai watch with a blank face (A/N: no duh) as Bruce pulled out a remote and pushed his thumb against a button.

The Batmobile, two blocks away, roared to life and sped through the Gotham streets. If pedestrians could see through the windows of the Batmobile, they would have horrified by the lack of drivers in the car. Mokusai realized what was going on and, almost anxiously (A/N: almost…remember, they don't have emotions), bent downing as he tried punching the ice. Bruce threw a batarang at his hand, but Mokusai managed to pull it back before the batarang hit.

Cracks started to appears in the ice as the Batmobile appeared at the mouth of the alley. Mokusai watched as the Batmobile rammed into him and drove him into the alley wall. Dust flew into the air and concealed the front half of the Batmobile. Batman knew he didn't "kill" Mokusai, but he also knew that it wouldn't hold him for long. Bruce strode cautiously towards the dust cloud as he put a gas mask on.

As he got two feet away from the dust cloud, the long end of a tonfa jutted out. Bruce reacted on instinct as he jumped back and sliced the tonfa in half with a batarang. The dust settled to reveal a seemingly healthy Mokusai and the front end of the Batmobile in a building. A second later, they found themselves trading punches and kicks again. Bruce's stamina was draining. He decided to try one last option that he had never done to a criminal before.

He grabbed some gasoline pellets from his belt (A/N: just imagine he has gasoline pellets) and threw them at Mokusai's head. The pellets broke and gasoline started oozing down his head. Mokusai tilted his head in confusion. Bruce only said a couple words, "Activation code: 91939. Flamethrower. Target: Assailant." The Batmobile once again hummed to life as an object withdrew itself from a compartment above the Batmobile front tire. The weapon only gave one click as a warning before a torrent of fire rained down on Mokusai.

Bruce watched in curiosity as the impassive Mokusai stood there as the fire was eating away at everything but his armor. Mokusai walked back three steps and withdrew a discarded batarang from the wall. Bruce watched with is mouth agape as the Mokusai used the batarang to shave off the burning embers of his skin. Mokusai put some speed into his legs as he jumped towards Bruce. However, instead of attacking him, he passed right by him and chopped Bruce in the neck, effectively knocking him out. The other Mokusai came out of the shadows. One of them hoisted Bruce over his shoulder while another pressed a button on the remote before returning it to Bruce's belt. The Batmobile went home.

* * *

_(in Bludhaven)_

Being a police officer in Bludhaven was active, but yet still boring work for Dick Grayson. Fun, in Dick's terms, was changing into his alter ego, Nightwing, and going out to kick some bad guy butt. He stepped out of Batman's shadow long time ago due to his mentor's methods of crimefighting, but they have reconciled. Now he was in his Bludhaven apartment at 1013 Parkthorne Avenue slouched on his couch after a long day at the station. He was taking a rest before changing in his Nightwing uniform (FYI: this is the DCAU continuity. Nightwing's uniform has the bird on it).

He picked himself up and walked a lazy ten step toward a wall. He placed his hand on the wall and watch as a panel slid open, revealing his uniform. His slipped into it and put his mask. He then turned around to come face to face with a Mokusai (hockey mask intact).

'Dang it. What happened to my alarm systems?' Dick thought as he pulled out his escrima sticks (A/N: I know Dick doesn't have escrima sticks in DCAU, but just go along with for now)

"Who are you," Nightwing asked.

No response. Just a bow and a drawing of tonfa. Dick was confused. Mokusai were as silent as Batman, and that was saying something. There they clashed in the middle of Dick Grayson's livingroom. Punches were slapped away at the wrist, kicks were dodged, and escrima sticks clashed with tonfa. It didn't help Mokusai that Dick was a renowned acrobat. Dick took a pair wingdings out of a pocket and flung them. The three-pronged stars lodged themselves in Mokusai's mask. Mokusai took the mask off and let it fall to the floor, the wingdings imbedding themselves in the wood, as it took in Dick's expression. Dick mouth dropped as the two stab wounds the wingdings made healed.

"So, your the Fighting Tree from the Wizard of Oz, huh? Interesting," taunted Dick.

Dick put his hand to his ear as he opened a comlink to the Batcave, meanwhile trying to dodge.

"Hey Batman (A/n: calling Batman "Bruce" while in the middle of a fight with a stranger is no a good idea), are you there?"

"No Master Dick," replied Alfred, "Master Bruce left the cave long time ago."

"OK, but can you connect me to him," replied Dick with an urgent voice.

"I'm afraid I have bad news, Master Dick. The Batmobile came back to the cave 2 minutes ago empty. The Batcomputer can't trace his signal and the readings show Master Bruce has been in a state of unconsciousness for half an hour."

"Oh crap. Alfred, try to search for any clue on the computer about wooden warriors with samurai armor and healing abilities. I'll be right-"

Mokusai threw its tonfa at a wall as Dick continued to jump around and dodge. The tonfa ricocheted off two walls as it spun for Dick's head, knocking him out.

"Master Dick? Master Dick!" exclaimed a fearful Alfred.

Alfred put the cave on lockdown while Mokusai picked Dick up.

* * *

_(on the ship)_

"Aw man, anyone catch the number of that fighting tree that ran over us," said a delirious Dick.

Dick sat up as he looked around at his surroundings. The room was pretty much empty and the only thing to look at was an iron jail door. Some stuff here and some stuff there. Nothing interesting. Just as expected from a prison cell.

"Well, good thing I'm in one piece, and so is my mask. So, it's just a standard pick the lock and I'm outta here procedure. Simply enough," Dick said to himself.

He reached into one of his pockets for the lockpick, only to discover that it was not there. So where all of his wingdings, smoke bombs, and ice bombs.

"Aw man, they took all the goodies from my hidden compartments. They're called hidden compartments for a reason, ya know," shouted Dick to nobody in particular.

He turned towards the ironness that was the door, and walked up to it, daring it to give him a challenge. As he reared back for a kick (A/N: sound familiar?), the door of a thousand pains mysteriously opened.

'Bruce, next time I see you, you're gonna be sorry you made me watch those horror films,' Dick thought as he walked through the door and into a lighted passageway. Well, honoestly, he couldn't exactly make the billionaire feel sorry, but it would be fun to see him squirm. Hey, you get taught by the devil, you become the devil. Wait, no, that didn't come out right. There was no way he was similar to that humorless billionaire. He heard some shuffling to his left and turned only to see Bruce there (with his mask and Batsuit on).

"Speak of devil," said Dick, "Hey Bruce."

"Hi Dick," replied Bruce, "Any idea how you got yourself into this?" Bruce never was one for small talk.

"You should be talking. By the way, where's your belt? Aren't you the only one who can take it off?"

Bruce didn't reply. All he did was point over Dick's shoulder. Dick turned and gasped.

"Woah." There were his weapons, suspended in the air by some sort of lightning field. He's had enough surprises for one day. "Do you think it is safe to touch the energy field?" That thing looked like it could give you a shock.

Bruce just brushed passed him and took his belt. Dick shrugged and put his weapons back in their respective "hidden" compartments. They turned, and started walking down the corridor.

"From what I've seen, this art dates back to about 1700 years ago," said Bruce. His detective skills come in handy during these times.

"So, we're basically dealing with an antique collector who has a thing for making wooden soldiers his minions. Great," sighed Dick.

Bruce halted.

"What do you mean 'wooden soldiers'," inquired Bruce.

"Don't tell me they attacked you, too" asked Dick. Bruce nodded. Dick feared as much.

"Well, at least we know that the fact we're both here isn't just a coincidence," said Dick.

They continued on before walking through a door and into dark room.

"So, where to, Bruce?"

"Nowhere," came the cryptic reply. Nightwing turned to Batman.

"What do you mean-. Oooohhhh," said Dick, stretching the "o". A smirk stretched across his face. Time to blow a door. You know, of all the days under Bruce's tutelage, there was one thing he enjoyed the most...blowing up things. There is no satisfaction than seeing things go boom. He grabbed some explosive bombs when a massive door appeared out of nowhere and opened itself.

Bruce and Dick looked at each other before continuing cautiously. The passageway was wide and adorned with fire lamps. Dick looked up to see Mokusai lining the walls.

"We're toast," quipped Dick.

However, the Mokusai didn't move. They just stood there as if they were statues (pun intended) meant for decoration. Sensing no hostility, they both walked on. Lights flicked up abruptly.

There, in front of the Dynamic Duo, were three flights of stairs with a landing between each. The sides of each flight were decorated with dragon statues. On the first two landings, on top of the dragons, was a chair. On the last landing, there was only one chair and it was in the middle. All the chairs were occupied except for one, and that was on the second landing on the right. The dragons did not surprise Dick, it was those who were in the chair that did.

Four people, dressed in Shredder armor. They all wore robes that had either blue, silver, bronze, and green woven in. The "trident" on their helmets and they eyes all shone their respective colors.

"Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson," said the one in silver armor. The Duo's eyes widened simultaneously as they realized their secret identity were figured out.

"Sh-sh-shredder….Ch-chrell….Oroku Saki, didn't he just die in New York a week ago? Bruce, I'm getting a little freaked out here," stammered Dick as he took a step back in surprise.

Instead of answering, Bruce went down on one knee. Poor Dick was thoroughly confused.

"Bruce?"

* * *

**Snip. Now it's an evil paperhanger. This is the new and re-edited version, even if it may not seem so. You could play the find the difference game. Anyway, as a reward for my loyal readers waiting patiently all this time, you get an extra-long chapter. Since nobody responded to the poll on my profile, I took matters into my own hands and put Nightwing and Batman into the Ninja Tribunal. I'd like some suggestions as to the names of Batman's and Nightwing's weapons from the Spirit Forge. Also, what animal do you think would be their avatar?**


	5. Batman and Nightwing Went Up the Hill to

DISCLAIMER:

I do NOT own Batman, Nightwing, or TMNT. DC and Nickelodeon do.

* * *

_(previously, on "They Don't Stay Dead, Do They")_

"_Bow when you enter this sanctuary," said the blue one in a smooth, heavy tone._

"_Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson," said the one in silver armor. The Duo's eyes widened simultaneously as they realized their secret identity was figured out._

_"Sh-sh-shredder….Ch-chrell….Oroku Saki, didn't he just die in New York a week ago? Bruce, I'm getting a little freaked out here," stammered Dick as he took a step back in surprise._

_Instead of answering, Bruce went down on one knee. Poor Dick was thoroughly confused._

"_Bruce?"_

(A/N: I know this snippet is different from the one in the last chapter, but this is the edited and improved version)

* * *

"Bruce?" Dick questioned. "Who are you?" demanded Dick as he turned towards the five warriors. Dick didn't care what Bruce did (well, he did…a little bit), but he wasn't go on one knee before a potential enemy.

"We are the Ninja Tribunal," said the red, short one in a slight squeaky voice as he rose. "Although, it appears you have already acknowledged our existence Batman," he continued as he turned his head towards the Dark Knight, "We wonder why your protégé isn't informed of us?"

"Young one," chided the green armored one as the Caped Crusader rose from his knee. She returned her focus to the Dynamic Duo. "We require the assistance of Acolytes to aid us in the upcoming war. However, we are outskilled. Therefore, you both have been chosen as contenders."

"Contenders?" questioned Batman. Bruce feared the meaning of that, and hoped that it wasn't true.

Bruce and Dick couldn't help but notice that the brown/bronze one hadn't spoken yet and was deathly silent. The silver one picked up from where the female left off. "You, Bruce Wayne, and you, Richard Grayson, will battle each other until only one is left behind. Only then, will the victorious one take his place as an Acolyte under us." (A/N: kind of sounds like Palpatine trying to bring Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side)

Nightwing and Batman narrowed their eyes. Dick opted to not continue the staring contest and broke into a run. He charged at the warriors as wingdings flew out of his hands. The blue one held up his hand and summoned lightning onto the wingdings, effectively frying them. Dick didn't have time to be surprised as he hit an energy field. He slumped down, holding his sore nose as Batman appeared to his side, weapons drawn.

"Congratulations," said the silver one, indifferently. "You both have passed the first test. Take these stairs to continue your journey and meditate on what you have seen."

Hard light steps materialized out of thin air and spiral upward to an open hatch in the ceiling. Dick walked up to the first stair and put his foot on it to test its stability. Satisfied with the structural integrity, he walked up the stairs with his surrogate father. As they came through the hatch, the smell of sea salt slammed full force into their senses. They scanned their surroundings and found out they were on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

Batman walked around, searching for any sign of eavesdroppers before pulling his mask over his head (A/N: I know Batman wouldn't remove his mask that easily, but just bear with me). A silent, unseen OK was sent as Dick took off his own mask. They sat down on the deck and let the wind rush through their hair. Bruce's eyes closed in concentration while Dick was too confused on what happened before.

"Some predicament we found ourselves in, huh, Bruce?" No reply. "So, what the heck happened down there that made you go down on one knee?"

Bruce grunted in irritation as his concentration was broken. "You know I'm not much of a storyteller, Dick," he replied with a faraway look in his eye, "But over 1600 years ago…_[insert story of mass epicness and whoa...dragons]. _You know how many cultures have mystical legends. The English have Merlin, and the Japanese have the Five Dragons, among others."

"Hence the lightning frying my wingdings," said Dick with a sense of understanding. Something clicked in his head. He remembered a decade or so ago that Alfred checked out a book from the library on Asian legends. If there was one thing you learned as a superhero or a member of the underworld, it is that the word "impossible" is a phony, and Bruce wanted to make sure Dick was ready to take on the crimefighting gig. Had he remembered, he would be in the same shoes as Bruce right now.

Finding his conscience settled, he and Bruce sat down to continue their meditation. After thirty minutes, they opened their eyes. A new sight welcomed their eyes as Dick stood up in wonder. The beautiful landscape was full of mountains and forests. However, as they approached their still unknown destination, the scenery changed. Their ship started going through a rugged canyon with tall, steep "stalagmites" lining the sides of the river. The ship approached a pagoda-like dock that signified the river's end.

With information on Japan and its legends still fresh in their memory, they analyzed their surroundings. The path from the dock led up the mountain and wound around it. The path also walked right over a huge carving of a dragon that was also wound around the mountain.

"Yep, this is definitely Japan," Dick stated. Bruce nodded.

The Duo spun around into a fighting stance as someone tapped them on their shoulders. There, right behind them, was the entire Tribunal, with the short, red-armored one retracting his hand.

"This is your stop," he said in a tone that contradicted his peers. "You will walk up the trail. Oh, and by the way, you have luggage," he said as he pointed to two army sacks tucked away in the corner of the ship.

Batman and Nightwing each grabbed a sack and started walking. Dick stopped for a second before leaving the ship and turned around towards the Ninja Tribunal.

"I have two questions. How far do we walk? Second, I heard from the legend that there were 5 of you before Saki deserted the Tribunal. If there are 5 of you now, and Saki's not here, then who are you?" he asked as he pointed to the short one. The atmosphere around the ship grew deathly cold. Although Dick was used to silences having lived with Bruce for many years, he started to feel uncomfortable and decided to leave the subject be.

They two started walking up the trail as the air grew thinner. Dick thought of ways to get up to the top much faster. Their grapplers were out of the picture, due to the fact that the lines couldn't support their current weight. What he wouldn't pay to get his bike teleported to the trail right about now. Dick was snapped out of his boring trek when the ship popped up through a cloud that was under them. The ship continued to float higher and higher, occasionally sprinkling them with some water. It soon disappeared out of sight.

"You know, Bruce. They maybe legends and heroes, but they are seriously getting on my nerves. At least we know that we're not stopping anytime soon," quipped Dick.

"C'mon," ordered Bruce, indifferently, as he continued up the trail. Yep, stranded for the time being in Japan with the world's best conversationalist was sure going to be fun. This was going to be torture.

* * *

**Yep, you guessed right. The silver ninja is Kon-Shisho, the blue ninja is Juto-Shisho, the green ninja is Chikara-Shisho (kind of reminds you of Sakura Haruno, doesn't she?), and the bronze/brown ninja is Hisomi-Shisho. And now to unravel something that has been a mystery since the first chapter. The fifth ninja on the Tribunal is the Ancient One. Sorry for not introducing him in the last chapter. Remember at the end of the Lost Season (Season 5) of TMNT, the Ancient One accepted an offer to join the Tribunal?**

**The armor he wears is made from the same ones the Tribunal have. It's a copy of Oroku Saki's original Tribunal armor, albeit a shorter version of it. The robe that comes with it is black with red flame patterns etched into it. It's also complete with the red eyes. However, him having red eyes all the time would downplay his hilarity. So I've made it so that, when he takes of his armor, his eyes would revert back to normal. However, he will still have his mystical abilities. Just so you know, his avatar is a fat, red dragon (a little fatter than Mikey's).**

**I figured that since there was a Ninjutsu Master of Spirit (Kon), Weapons (Juto), Stealth (Hisomi), and Strength (Chikara), there should be a Ninjutsu Master of Senses (i.e. the Ancient One). It's the ability to enhance your senses with your chi during a fight. It could give Acolytes abilities similar to the Byakugan.**

**Once again, this is the new and re-edited version.**

**Juu50x: I do plan on writing more chapters. I just have a lot work to do before Memorial Day.**

* * *

_**Next Up: Train 'til You Drop**_


	6. Train 'til You Drop, Part 1

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own Batman, Nightwing, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. DC Comics owns Batman and Nightwing, and Nickelodeon owns TMNT.

* * *

_(Previously on "They Don't Stay Dead, Do They")_

"_You know, Bruce. They maybe legends and heroes, but they are seriously getting on my nerves. At least we know that we're no stopping anytime soon," quipped Dick._

"_C'mon," ordered Bruce, indifferently, as he continued up the trail. Yep, stranded in Japan for the time being with the world's greatest conversationalist was sure going to be fun._

* * *

_(on the trail)_

There are a few things that Bruce Wayne, or should I say Batman, would consider with praise. If stocks in Wayne Industries skyrocketed, he'd go into the board meeting room with, well, a bored look on his face. If stocks plunged, he'd frown. Obviously, some of the Wayne Industries funds went to his Batman career. If he went with the thousandth date of his life, he'd go home and shrug it off, and then go right ahead and put his cowl on. This guy could give a dead man a lesson in lack of emotions. And yet, here he was, mouth agape. Judging from the look on his protégé's face, he'd pretty much write it off as something that would happen to anyone.

As if walking up the Dragon Path wasn't enough, they came to a dead stop (no pun intended on Bruce). It was beautiful. Well, to Dick, who had more emotion than the walking dead man beside him, it was awesome. To the calculative eye, i.e. Batman, it was beautiful. In front of them was a mere cobblestone bridge with practically no support. If you actually found a way in your sane mind to fall off the bridge, take out your notebook and make sure the have the equation for the law of descent. But what really caught the duo's attention, was the monastery at the end of the bridge. The monastery inhabited the top of a solitary piece of land that looked awfully similar to an hourglass. And the hourglass looked about ready to snap in half. The bridge was the only connection it had to the mainland (A/N: scroll to the bottom of the chapter for the photo link to the monastery). The entrance to the monastery was a dragon's mouth that opened wide (A/N: No, he's not going to eat you) to reveal….a door. It was a HUGE, burnt red door, with two dragons framing an insignia.

"The Dragon's Foot," murmured Bruce and Dick in awe. They also had a good view of the monastery from that viewpoint because the walls, which were actually part of the dragon's body, were low. Bruce (he still has his cowl on, and Dick still has his mask) started walking across the bridge when he noticed his protégé still staring at the structures in a daze.

"Nightwing (remember, they're still in public)," Bruce called, "Get moving." The former Boy Wonder snapped out of his stupor. They both started across the bridge for the door. When they both approached the door, they stopped. Bruce and Dick looked at each other. Dick shrugged and walked forward, intending on doing God knows what.

"What are you doing," questioned Bruce.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Bruce," Dick shot back, "I'm knocking." As he raised his arm to knock/punch, the door opened outward. Dick jumped back and got into a stance….only to find nobody there.

Dick pulled out a long "OK" and walked in with Bruce. As they walked through the town/monastery, they gazed at the sights and wonders. However, they didn't stop and kept going wherever the trail led. They walked through the final door and into the darkness. Batman and Nightwing are ones known to practically have night-vision. They didn't earn their reputation by being clumsy. Despite their "night-vision" and the fact that nothing seemed wrong, something was very unsettling to the duo. Someone was in there with them, make that four people (remember, Hisomi is a stealth specialist, so he can't be heard, or seen for that matter).

A bright ball of light levitated itself from in front of them and erupted in a blinding display of light. Bruce and Dick squinted their eyes and they tried to block out the light invading their senses. When everything died down, they opened their eyes at a snail's pace, trying to get accustomed to the light (remember, one of them can honestly say that he's lived in a cave for a fourth of his life).

"Welcome to the Ninja Tribunal monastery," boomed a very loud voice throughout the massive room.

"Woah," breathed Dick as he got a good look at the room. His attention snapped back to the apparently four figures in front of them. "Always with the dramatic entrances," he quipped. The room they were in was no different in creativity than the landscape outside. There was a small lake in front of a stage that was framed by a dragon's head and arms. The stage itself had five chairs. Two massive pillars on both sides of the stage and one behind it supported the domed ceiling. Behind the stage, was a large "poster" with the symbol of the three-toed dragon. The walls were adorned with multiples pictures of dragons, and lamps everywhere about where lit (A/N: scroll to the bottom of the chapter for a photo link to the oratory).

"Masters," said Bruce, pulling his cowl over his head. Nightwing brought his fingers to his eyes and pulled of his domino mask, too.

"Sit, now," ordered Juto. Small talk and pleasantries never was their thing. Neither was beating around the bush.

"You are here today so we may test your knowledge," started Chikara, as the duo walked up the plush cushions on the floor and sat down, "and to see whether you two mortals (Nightwing flinched) are enough to combat the return of the Evil One." Chikara turned and aimed a pointed glare at Bruce. The man didn't seem affected by it one bit. "What do you know of the Tengu?"

"Hai," began Bruce, "The Shredder Tengu was a demon that invaded Japan 1700 years ago. Legend says that you shishos were the five greatest warriors in Japan during the feudal era, in addition to Oroku Saki," The entire Tribunals' eyes narrowed. "You faced the demon and fought him until Oroku Saki landed the killing blow. You Masters were honored in front of the entire country and given the three-toed symbol of the dragon. Some time later, the Oroku Saki started exhibiting powers similar to the Tengu, and he declared war on Japan. My acquaintances that master in the mystical profession informed me that a great demonic energy that shook the mystical realm was laid dormant around the time the legend originated from, only to reappear a couple years ago. My acquaintances with mystical powers started exhibiting strange sicknesses that ended only a week or so later. This time, however, instead of the energy being laid dormant, it was destroyed. My interrogation of a leader of the Purple Dragons revealed that this demon was the exact same one from the legend that was defeated many years ago."

"It would seem that they're well informed as to our purpose," stated Chikara as she looked towards each of her comrades, "However…" Each Tribunal member (they're still in their garbs) stood up slowly and took a step forward. The duo's muscles tensed and they were both on guard.

"Perception is not always truth," began the Ancient One with narrowed eyes. He swept his hand over the lake, replaying moments of the last battle with the Shredder Tengu. The water's surface rippled again to reveal three figures standing in a triangle around a wide area performing hands signs. "All you think you know about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself, will be challenged." Three blasts of chi from the figures disrupted the projection. Kon turned to the duo, "Here in the lap of the gods, we will share secrets not know for millennia. Secrets known only by we of the Ninja Tribunal."

"I am Kon Shisho." Smoke erupted from his shoulders and a cocoon of energy swirled around him and then dissipated. "Ninjutsu Master of Spirit."

"Juto Shisho," said Juto, introducing himself. A massive array of weapons wrapped around him and then retracted into his sleeves. "Ninjutsu Master of Weapons." Nightwing made a small mental note to not get on his bad side. As much as he liked pointy things that wizz by, he did not want them aimed at him. A mental image of himself pulling out three kunai and a shuriken sticking out of his butt made him shiver.

"Ancient One." A sharp ring resonated around the room until they traced it back to the short figure. His Tribunal garbs shredded into nothingness. "Ninjutsu Master of Senses." Nightwing was trying to hold in a laugh or at least a smile, but a red eye-filled glared sent those thoughts away. Right, Ninjutsu Master of Senses. Should've figured that out, he thought grimly.

"Chikara Shisho," Kon introduced the green one. She lifted her arm up….and punched the ground. A blast of green chi covered her before it dissipated. Nightwing flinched. If she was as strong as she looked (and demonstrated), he'd have to chalk up one more name for the "don't kid around with" list. Bruce already knew about the list, and turned a pointed glare at Dick. He was the first one to have his name on the list. Why Bruce didn't feel honored was beyond Dick. He had felt the effects of an angry guy using superstrength. He thought superstrength looked best on those who had cool heads, like Superman. These guys did not look like ones to share a laugh, and he was absolutely unwilling to try and test out her strength. Hopefully, this last one would have the bright spark of laughter that he's been looking for every since he'd been stuck on a mission with his expressionless ex-teacher. "Ninjutsu Master of Strength." No duh, he already figured that out, and it only reaffirmed his fears.

"Hisomi Shisho," introduced Kon. Dick's hopes were rising by the second, and he was hoping this guy would be the black sheep of the Tribunal. Then, the guy just tore of his garb silently nonchalantly, and Dick's hopes plummeted to the earth. At least the others had a flashy or somewhat interesting entrance. Despite all the times he fought Joker and Harley Quinn, Dick never felt pushed to the brink of insanity until now. This guy looked…boring. "Ninjutsu Master of Stealth."

"All will be revealed in Time," said Kon as he walked forward. "However…" He made a few hand signs and pressed his palms together. He then brought his hands apart and shaped them in a circle. A swirling sphere of mystic energy formed in between. A blue light glowed from the Nightwing insignia on Dick's costume while a black light glowed from the Bat symbol on Bruce's costume (don't ask me how black can glow. It's just cool. Besides, I'm the author). When the glow died down, their insignias had a metallic shine to them. Dick learned from experience that if any part of you glowed in the presence of a mystic, there was something wrong with your body.

"What have you done to us," bellowed Dick as he stood up.

"You have been granted amulets that have been melded with your symbols. These amulets serve as mediums that amplify your chi so that you can use them in the real world. From now on, you are our Acolytes. If you wish to bring your amulet out, just wish it," instructed Ancient One, holding his index finger up.

As he sat back down, Dick wished his amulet out, and then held it up to his face to get a closer look at it. He then tried to take it off. For some odd reason, it would go past his jawline.

"Figures," muttered Dick, "Magic."

"These amulets that we have granted are bonded with you from now on," said Juto. "Removing them is not an option," he said as he glared at Dick.

Bruce looked at his insignia and then wished his amulet out. Viewing it with a calculative eye, he found that his comrades in the Justice League would consider this a mystical masterpiece. He doubted Zatanna, Etrigan, or Doctor Fate combined could have constructed this. His limited knowledge of mystical workings showed him that these artifacts were also designed to channel more chi than those three combined. He and Dick wished theirs back in, and watched as their insignias once again regained their metallic shine.

"Masters, I must inquire, are our identities safe in this monastery," asked Bruce. Dick let out a breath that he had been holding. If the answer was no, than it was too late due to the fact that they had already taken off their mask.

"Yes, they are, Young One," said the Ancient One. Dick stifled a laugh. Bruce being called Young One was too funny.

Chikara took a step forward. "As for training, it begins now." She performed a few hand signs and slammed her palms together. Dick froze and was tempted to take a step back. He definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of one of her doomsday punches. He had suffered enough broken bones from Bane to make sure that his first experience should remain his last experience. Instead of launching an attack, a soft, yet bright blow emanated from behind them. Bruce and Dick turned around with wide eyes…

* * *

_(after commercial break, zoom to Alfred in the Batcave)_

After a dozen or more years of his surrogate son being Batman, you'd figure Alfred would get used to Bruce getting captured. But the fact that the Batmobile came home empty (which it was not supposed to do unless Bruce made it, and we all know he's unconscious) coupled with Bruce and Dick being captured within minutes of each other when they were a couple hundred miles away equaled a sweating Alfred with a headache typing furiously away at the Batcomputer. A screen popped up on the Batcomputer to show that Alfred had just hacked into Superman's Justice League comm and made a connection.

"Superman, this is Alfred, Batman's ward," Alfred said urgently.

"Hi Alfred, where's Batman and why isn't he calling me," asked Kent (Superman alter ego).

"That may be the problem, Superman. Master Bruce and Master Dick were captured within minutes of each other, and I can't lock on to their tracers. It says that they've disappeared right off the map," informed Alfred.

"It seems I can't get a lock on Batman's comm, too. I'll hold an emergency meeting with the founders. Please keep this line open so that I can contact you with any of our results. Superman out."

"J'onn, GL, Diana, Flash, Shayera. Meet me in the conference room, now. We've got an emergency," called Superman as he flew through the corridors of the Watchtower to the conference room.

* * *

_(in the conference room, after relaying what Superman heard from Alfred)_

"C'mon. Bats always gets himself in these situations. What's to say that he won't get himself out like the other thousand times he has," whined Flash.

"Because Bruce and his student were taken within minutes of each other," said Green Lantern (this Green Lantern is John Stewart).

"J'onn, has Bruce tried to send mental messages? If he hasn't, can you track his mind," inquired Superman.

"I'm afraid that he hasn't made any attempt to contact me nor can I trace him. I also can't trace his Justice League comm," replied the Martian grimly.

The other members only nodded to confirm their attempts. A knock resounded throughout the room. Superman activated his x-ray vision and look through the door.

"Come in."

Doctor Fate teleported in the room.

"A great mystic energy is threatening to tip the scales once again in this world. I sense Batman and his protégé have a role to play in this situation," Doctor Fate warned. This premonition did not spell good news.

Superman and Wonder Woman narrowed their eyes at the resident magician.

* * *

**Aaaannnnnddddd CUT! Here's an extra long chapter that I've written for my faithful readers as a thanks for sticking with me for so long. Just to let you know of the differences between this story and the canon in all the shows. These amulets are an upgraded version of the ones the Turtles had (and broke). This time, you're going to have to channel the sun's chi break it. Also, this version of Dick Grayson still retains his usual humor from his days as Robin despite the transition into Nightwing. Nightwing's costume here is a mix of the one in BTAS and the comics. His insignia is still the blue bird, but the "wings" stretch and run along his arms and end at the tip of his ring and middle fingers.**

**Hai: It's Japanese for "OK".**

**Photo of the monastery: flickr****.com/photos/terrible2z/2454794402/in/set-72157603811053044/**

**Photo of the oratory: flickr****.com/photos/terrible2z/2454700900/in/set-72157603811053044/**

**You might want to browse that album. It's very interesting and will help to get you acquainted with the Ninja Tribunal for those of you who haven't watch TMNT. And for those of you who haven't watch Ninja Tribunal, go to youtube****.com/xxtmntuploaderxx**** and click season 5 on the playlist. Scroll down the episode "Ninja Tribunal" and just go on from there. In next chapter, we'll have a sneak peak of the villain of this story. I'm probably going to be putting up a new chapter in the middle of July. Ja ne.**

_**Next Up: Train 'til You Drop, Part 2**_


	7. Train 'til You Drop, Part 2

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own **TMNT**, **BATMAN**, or** NIGHTWING**. **DC Comics** owns **BATMAN** and **NIGHTWING**, while **Nickelodeon** owns **TMNT**. And I own…nothing. Seriously, the Tribunal would kill me if I said I owned them. NOBODY owns them.

* * *

_(previously on "They Don't Stay Dead, Do They")_

"_That may be the problem, Superman. Master Bruce and Master Dick were captured within minutes of each other, and I can't lock on to their tracers. It says that they've disappeared right off the map," informed Alfred._

and

"_A great mystic energy is threatening to tip the scales once again in this world. I sense Batman and his protégé have a role to play in this situation," Doctor Fate warned._

* * *

_(scene of the Shredder Tengu's first defeat, night; before Batman is captured by the Tribunal, i.e. flashback)_

Legends. Some of us practically worship them and some of us see them as heroes. The Legend of the Three-Toed Sign of the Dragon, though not as popular as "Jack and the Beanstalk" or "Cinderella", was still a myth/legend talked about in Japan. The Legend of the Three-Toed Sign of the Dragon is a story passed down from the Japanese spectators who witnessed the events of the 4th century. At first, the names of those five warriors who defeated the Tengu the first time were remembered as heroes. Century after century passed, and soon the names were lost to the sands of time. And don't even get me started on where the Tengu was first defeated, or the second time for that matter. So today, the legend is rare, and is probably vaguely known by a couple hundred families who tell them to children as bedtime stories. Most of the time that the legend is mentioned, it's in the books that not many read. And two of those "not many" that read it were Batman and Nightwing.

Anyway, back to the scene of the Shredder Tengu's first defeat by Oroku Saki. It was a secluded meadow surrounded by mountains and had a lake. The sands of time had also healed the marks of battle there, so the evidence of the broken tree was buried. An amalgamation of storms was creating an unnatural phenomenon. There was a tornado here, lava seeping out of the ground there, and the land was covered in ice. In the tornado was an unhealthy amount of sand that put the sand storms to shame. Water in the lake was also boiling. As soon has the maelstrom settled down, figures started to appear.

Lava in the earth took shape. Water splashed upwards and formed a flaming water figure. Mud on the banks of the lake started rising like the swamp monster. Lighting struck the earth and stayed there for a few seconds, forming a figure that was sparkling. The sand tornado fell to the ground, and started pooling around one area, forming a body from feet up. Roots were cracking ominously out of the ground. They all had samurai armor without helmets. Step by step, they walked towards the form that had electricity racing across it. After what seemed like hours, they finally made a circle around him.

"It seems our brother mystics have failed the master once again," declared Raisuka.

"But why have we been summoned, Raisuka" asked Chikyuban.

A shadow rose from among the ones in the circle. "We are the fail-safe plan the master made if our brothers were to fail. Raisuka, what is our mission," inquired Kagehebi.

"Our brother mystics have failed. It is our duty to bring back the master from wherever he is now," he informed. "I can sense the master, but he is faint, and I don't know where he is. Combine your power, NOW!" He flashed his eyes very red to emphasize his order. The other mystics got the message and channeled their power into the ground. Energy seeped from their feet and snaked their way toward Raisuka. The rivers of chi kept a constant flow until they reached him at the same time and merged. There was a second where nothing happened. Raisuka shot the built-up energy into the ground, creating a crater. The energy began to seep out of the crater and engulf the world, while a feedback pulse from the crater shot a pillar into the heavens, parting a whole in the clouds.

As the massive amount of chi traveled around the world, people found themselves momentarily twitching. Electric currents short-circuited for less than a split-second, nothing anyone won't notice. Oh, how they were wrong. Spiritually-aware and mystical beings (I refuse to use the word "magic". It's too old-fashioned) stood rooted to their spots. Those that were sleeping woke up with a start. Every one of them was assaulted by visions of Oroku Saki on a rampage. Doctor Fate put out his hand and levitated his helmet onto his head. It was time to do research. The Justice League didn't need to know just yet. The Tribunal narrowed their eyes in rage at what the unknown mystics had just done. This did not bode well.

Back to the mystics. As the energy faded and brought the intel back to the clearing, the mystics drew their heads back in surprise.

"The master would not go into battle without a contingency plan," breathed Sunazefa in awe.

"Indeed, he sensed the Tribunal would pull an underhanded attempt, such as training acolytes in their cowardly way," Raisuka said, his eyes burning red in rage.

"The Tribunal no doubt has already sensed our presence. If we move so soon, they will attempt to track us and destroy us with haste. Our quest to reawaken the master will then be in vain. We must stay quiet and move cautiously," warned Kagehebi.

"Then, we scour the ten Earths for the master," exclaimed Aisukuiru, as he pointed his mystic staff into the air. His brothers followed suit and pointed their staves in the air in a majestic hurrah. They cocooned themselves in their respective elements and disappeared.

The Ninja Tribunal gazed at the circular disk of water floating above the lake in the oratory. They only caught the last sentence of the mystics' discussion.

* * *

_(up in the Justice League Watchtower, present time)_

"What do you mean Bruce and Dick have a role to play in this situation," bellowed Superman. "They have trained with masters enough to know that they shouldn't mess with the balance. They'd never do that!"

Doctor Fate put his hand up. "I did not imply that they have a role in instigating this unbalance. I merely said that they had a large role in this situation," the Doctor corrected. "I've tried to delve further, but a very powerful mystical energy is blocking my efforts. I can say this, however, the mystic presence that blocked me out did not reek of malignant energy. I was untainted like I've never seen before. I also attempted to find where Batman is, but it resulted in the same outcome. The energy that did cause this unbalance, however, is tainted. It seemed very familiar, an energy that I sensed not long ago."

"Faust," gnarled Wonder Woman.

"No, not Faust," he corrected once again. "His spirit didn't have enough time to gain back this much power to upset the scales. This power is much more malignant."

"Wait a minute," spoke up John (not J'onn), "If this whole magical unbalance business is happening right now, why aren't magic users being affected and writhing in pain?"

"After what happened at the Gates of Tartarus in Themyscira; Etrigan, Zatanna, and I put up mental barriers in ourselves if it were to ever happen again. As to the matter at hand, I said that Batman had a large role to play in this situation. Judging from the untainted energy that blocked me out, I can predict that he is trying to restore the balance," Fate explained.

"That much is expected," said Shayera.

"Same old Bats. Keeping us out of the loop. So what do we do now," asked Flash.

He levitated and spread his arms out. "I will continue to do my research and try to pinpoint what this familiar energy is. Meanwhile, all you can do is sit around and wait." Then he disappeared.

The Justice League Founders looked around at each other and tried to figure out what it meant. Their concern for Batman and his protégé was evident on their faces.

* * *

_(at the Tribunal monastery, in the oratory)_

Batman and Nightwing turned around with looks of awe on their faces. There were two massive shut shining golden doors between them and the entrance to the oratory. Chikara, with her palms still pressed together, opened them like a book. The double doors mimicked her motions and opened with a slow creak. A golden light was emanating from wherever the doors led to, making it was impossible to see what was behind magic doors (literally) 1 and 2.

"Woah," said a dazed Dick. He did a double-taken, then on realizing it was a library, he muttered an "oh".

"Incredible," agreed Batman, as the duo walked in.

"You will take this time to research on the task ahead," Kon explained as the five masters grouped together. The duo turned their attention towards him. "Research as much as you can. The future is unknown. You never know when you might need the knowledge."

Hisomi dropped a smoke bomb and disappeared with the rest of the Tribunal under the cover.

"Great, first they have no sense of humor and then they pull a Batman. Did you meet these people before and become friends with them, Bruce" asked Dick exasperatedly.

Bruce just walked right past him like he didn't say anything. Dick felt his eye twitch. Then he looked to the aisles of books to be read.

"Oh boy"

The doors shut right behind them.

* * *

_(after commercial break, in the library)_

"Oooookkkkkkk, Bruce. Might as well stop staring and get reading…..How do we get reading," Dick asked the obvious question.

"Just pick a book, I guess," replied Bruce. He and Dick grabbed a book from different shelves. They set their books on the table and sat down two chairs away from each other.

"Chi is the internal energy that powers your very being. Chi can be manifested," they both began to read together. They both looked up in the realization that they had been reading the exact same material. But the books looked different. They grabbed another two books from the shelves and started reading again.

"Chi is the internal energy that powers your very being. Chi can be manifested," they read simultaneously. They stopped reading.

"These books are all the same," Dick exclaimed.

"There is nobody we can tell about this. I'm guessing the fact that we're reading the same material has a purpose," Bruce said. "Let's keep reading and maybe then we can contact the masters."

"Chi can be manifested in many ways. The primary way to manifest your chi is to concentrate," they read together aloud. "When manifesting your chi, you must focus. Feel yourself and your intention." Dick looked up.

"Bruce, what do you think they mean…uh, Bruce?" Dick was pointing as Bruce's costume in amazement. The Bat symbol on Bruce's chest seemed to be much more, for a lack of better word, feral. The edges gave of a much more dangerous glint and the pointy parts of the symbol were much longer and sharper. Tribal markings were running up Bruce's legs from his boots like fire. The same thing could be said about his gauntlets and his arms. On his stomach, the markings formed the Greek letter zeta (go to the wikipedia article "zeta") on one ribcage, and a backwards zeta on the other ribcage. This stretched from one side of his abdomen to the other. His eyes were much brighter now, and black tribal markings came from behind his neck and went up past his chin. The markings went up to his mouth only to come to a stop a centimeter below tips of his lips. He also had the kanji for "fear" on each cheek. The markings ended there. The last detail was that he was covered in a black aura. If this old look didn't convince criminals that Batman wasn't human, then this look would. The markings and the eyes gave him a much more intimidating look.

"Dick, I think," Bruce replied as he turned towards Dick, only to find him pointing at his Bat-symbol. "Dick, what's happening to you?"

They both looked down at their costumes and gasped in amazement. They only had a moment to see how their costumes changes. The feathers on Nightwing's insignia seemed fuller and the symbol much more 3dimensional. His domino mask morphed into a rough version of a bat without a head. Blue tribal markings started from his feet and crawled up, wrapping around each leg two times. Tribal markings flowed like a river two inches below his insignia on both sides, giving off the image of a phoenix radiating heat. On his arms, the tribal markings made their mark, as they started branching off of the blue cloth that ran down his arms. And to top it off, he was shrouded in a blue aura.

"Incredible," Bruce breathed. "So this is how you manifest your chi."

"The new look has given me enough incentive to go on with this. Let's keep reading," said Dick with renewed fervor.

They returned to their respective books, only that they were still the same. The books explained the basics of chi and how to manifest it. When, they got to the end of the books they were reading, they put them on top of the first books they retrieved. They sat up and picked up the two book pile that was in front of them. As Dick and Bruce walked back to the shelves to put them back, a book fell from Bruce stack. The book toppled on the floor until it landed on its spine, whereupon it opened to page 32. Bruce bent down to pick it up when his eye caught what was in the book.

"Dick, open one of your books to page one and read again," urged Bruce.

"Uh, Bruce, are you OK," Dick asked. Bruce sent a glare at him and repeated what he said.

"OK," Dick said as he set the books down. "Page one, 'Chi is the internal ener….What?" Instead of expecting to read that line once again, he came upon an entirely different page. He frantically turned the pages in rapid succession. This book was about the different ways you can channel your chi. Dick took out the other book that he was carrying and flipped through it hurriedly. This time, the book was about controlling your chi to do various activities, like float an inch or two above the ground.

"It looks like all these books were 'programmed' to introduce people to the basics before you started with the hard ones," deduced Dick.

"So it seems. Let's 'reread' the books," said Bruce as he sat right back down in his previous seat.

"More reading," Dick grumbled.

* * *

_(at Chikara's training ground, day)_

Chikara was livid. Yes, she was very, very angry. The Ancient One somehow suckered her into letting them use her training grounds. The short Master had come up to her nonchalantly offering a deal. Chikara's interest peaked and she was ready to listen. He offered her a sweetened bowl of onigiri, with his special ingredient. She was all ears now. It was known among the five Masters that the Ancient One's special ingredient was nothing to laugh at. Onigiri with his special ingredient was something very easy to fall for. And for the life of them, none of the other four Masters could find out what the ingredient was. Hisomi, the Master of Stealth, was as stumped as the others. Chikara tried very hard to resist his offer every time he tried, but onigiri was a favorite of hers back in the day, and old habits die hard. It wasn't until she finished the onigiri that she realized that she couldn't use her training grounds for the day. Back in Tokyo, seismic tremors were felt. So she decided to watch their training lesson in private so that she could "iron" out some kinks later.

Back to the training grounds. The Ancient One was standing with his back turned towards the sun and the two Acolytes right in front of him.

"There is chi all around us. The trees possess chi, the rabbits that scamper by possess chi, and the most important of all, the Earth itself also possesses chi. To master your senses, you must merge your chi with the Earth and your surroundings," he said as he held his index finger up. "Now, for today's lesson, you must push me onto my butt or make me kneel. Capiche?" He pulled two bags of unidentifiable ingredients from his back pocket (A/N: don't ask me where it is) and threw them into a pile five feet away from him. The bags erupted into smoke and cleared to show a copy of the Ancient One.

"This Bunshin is made with two ingredients the Tribunal has invented. This doppelganger possesses my chi and my abilities, but has a timer of three hours. Once the clone vanishes, the lesson ends for both of you. If you complete the lesson, the clone vanishes as well."

"Batman, you will fight me. Birdboy, you take the clone," he instructed.

Dick didn't know whether to be elated at there being at least one person who can crack a joke here or the fact that the short guy just insulted him by calling him his old nickname.

"Hajime."

Batman and the Ancient One started circling around each other. They both shot at each other at amazing speeds. Despite the fact that the Ancient One possessed a mostly rotund form, he was making good progress against the Caped Crusader. Batman was wondering how a guy of his physique could move around so fluently and dodge his attacks so effortlessly before he remembered the Tribunals' words. Perception is not always truth. This man has probably been training longer than him and Dick combined. Even without his mystic powers, he could probably take down a dozen league members. Bruce didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he went all out. As it stands, Bruce is fighting him now and time's a-wasting. Bruce estimated that they were half-an-hour into their battle. Bruce's stamina wasn't taking a hit, and the Ancient One's didn't seem to either, but this test was timed, and it would be best not to stretch it. Bruce feigned a kick to his midsection, but the master nonetheless jumped out of the way and behind the Acolyte. He spun and tried to kick the rotund man, but the Ancient One put his arm up and blocked the kick. Bruce sensed something was wrong. He gave the short man one of his hardest kicks. It doesn't matter if he was a master, he should have at least skidded.

Bruce dropped his arms out of his fighting stance and dropped them to his side. He bowed his head and closed his eyes as he sunk into concentration. His insignia glowed as the tribal marks crawled up past his chin. The Ancient One stiffened and jumped up high to deliver a final kick. Batman's eyes snapped open, and he darted to the side to avoid the kick. A cloud of dust erupted from where the kick landed. Bruce was starting to see through the master's fighting style. He concentrated on the Ancient One, focusing his attention on find a weakness. When his analysis got to the master's feet, his eyes staid rooting to that place. That was his weakness? His feet? Bruce's eyes told him something while his brain said another. He focus turned to getting a closer look, and suddenly, he couldn't make out the Ancient One's features. All that remained was a black silhouette that looked embedded with some kind of energy. Chi. He saw that a lot of chi was concentrated near the feet. Now it all made sense. He had read about controlling your chi to an extent where you perform some simple yet effective techniques. Apparently, one of those techniques was sticking to the ground like glue. Learning to control your chi could unlock unlimited potential for any technique that was stored in that vast library and the ones yet to be made. He also read that any chi technique could be negated by any technique with the same power.

Bruce dashed forward and feigned a right hook to the left cheek. An attempted roundhouse kick to head made the Ancient One duck. Now for the final move. Bruce crouched, putting his left hand on the ground and stuck out his right foot to the side. With his left leg bent, he swung his right leg at the Ancient One's feet. In mid-swing he channeled a lot of chi into his right foot. Comparing the two opponents' feet, Bruce found his leg was a little denser in chi than the Ancient One. His leg made contact with the Ancient One's clogs, and the rotund man toppled over.

Meanwhile, Nightwing darted after the clone, making circles around it while trying to find weak spots. He stopped at 8 o'clock from the clone's viewpoint. He turned his foot in less than a split-second, and lunged for the clone's arm. The clone sidestepped the attack. But, Dick went into battle knowing he was against the Ninjutsu Master of Senses. As Dick sped past, he brought up his leg and smashed it against the clone's arm. Dick winced in pain. It felt like knocking your head against the wall of the BatCave, only this time it was his foot. When you live with Bruce Wayne as long as Dick did, you had to find out a way to vent some of your frustrations. The wall of the BatCave, bearing NO marks of violence, could testify that its defense was its best offense. Bandages in the BatCave started mysteriously disappearing when Bruce appeared to be in one of his moods more than usual.

Dick felt himself falling and brought his hands to the ground. He pushed off, executing a perfect front flip in the air and landed flat on his feet. He turned around to come face-to-face with the clone trying to swing a roundhouse kick at his head. Nightwing tried to jump out of the way, but the clone's clogs grazed his shoulder, doing more damage than it was supposed to. He started somersaulting towards the clone to through it off-guard, but it didn't seem to be fazed. Instead, it jumped out of the way doing a series of backflips and cartwheels itself. Dick stopped his somersaulting barrage near a boulder and settled down, reeling in the fact that this man, despite his physique, possessed knowledge of acrobatics that could rival his family's. The Flying Graysons. That brought back memories. Show business was fun back then with his parents. He was tight-rope walking, doing back and front flips faster than Olympians, and best of all, he could show the world what he was capable of. That was until Tony Zucco took all of that away from him. Then, he went until vigilantism with Bruce. He didn't know about his other family, but he'd bet his parents would be proud that he made it to the major leagues. Fighting a Ninjutsu masters, gaining mystic powers. But, what good were those powers if he couldn't use them.

A slap on the back of the head brought him out of his reverie. The clone was right behind him, he thought with a deadpan face.

"You're not going to defeat me if you keep daydreaming all day," the clone said.

"I don't need to defeat you," Nightwing replied with a smirk. "I just need to knock you flat on your butt!" He swung around in a second and attempted to chop the clone. He stopped suddenly when he realized the clone was ON TOP of the boulder, and the boulder was pretty tall. If he went through with that chop, he would be nursing a bruised hand, among other things. A quick look at Bruce showed him that he wasn't the only one with bruises.

"Good," said the clone with a happy smile. He jumped off the boulder and did a front flip, landing five yards away from it. "Now come on, stupid. We don't have all day."

Dick breathed a sigh of relief. The clone could have taken him down in a second during his daydream. He needed to keep concentrating on this battle if he was going to escape it with minimum injuries. Concentrate! That's it! He was stressed for time in this lesson, and if he concentrated, he might actually be able to access his mystic powers and speed things up. He put his hand against the boulder for support and closed his eyes in concentration. His mask morphed and the tribal tattoos started marking him. He started circling the clone, focusing on his body to find any weak spots in his rhino armor. To his amazement, he found that nothing was protecting the clone's skin. He threw a couple wingdings to try and confirm his theory. The clone saw the projectiles coming and jumped out of the way. So, he didn't have rock-hard skin. He was also figuring out his style. This clone's style was totally different from the real one's he found out. This clone was staying in one spot and jumping out the way when a hit was coming. And when the clone saw an opening he struck. But what was making the clone so invulnerable? He focused harder on the clone's body, intent on finding out why his right leg was nursing a bruise. He was suddenly granted with Chi Vision, he realized, and what he saw confirmed his previous theory. There was no chi packed against the clone's skin. When he zoomed down the clone's feet, he saw it very dense with chi.

"Chi Glue," Nightwing mused. "Clever." So that why he was staying and one place and not budging.

A smirk flitted across Nightwing's lips, and darted head-on after the clone. When he got two feet away from it, he jumped over the clone trying to take it off-balance. In the air, he took a wingding out, and prepared to hurl it on the short man. When he turned to his target, he found the clone about to cannonball him in the stomach. He had no time to dodge in the air and braced himself. The clone barreled into his stomach. Nightwing dropped his wingding and let out a gasp. The hit sure did hurt, but it didn't hurt as much as it was supposed to. Dick guessed that his concentration combined with the amulet had something to do with it. He considered all this as he was falling to the ground. He took notice a little too late, and packed his back with chi to lessen the impact.

Now to put the plan in motion. He darted head-on after the clone again. A left hook to the cheek, a right uppercut into the stomach, a punch to the shoulder. All feigns. Suddenly, Nightwing dropped a smoke bomb in front of the clone and darted aside to avoid the oncoming smoke fog.

"And people say I give off offending gas," the clone mused out loud before it jumped out of the way.

Nightwing wanted to so punch that guy, but right now, the clone was playing into his plan. Focusing his eyes, he calculated where the clone was going to land. He took out five wingdings and threw them at a spot five feet away from the boulder. The wingdings were positioned so that they would stab through the clone's clogs if he landed. Nightwing immediately sensed something was wrong, and ran towards his trap. He could see the clone falling, but could understand why his senses were still going berserk. He zoomed in and saw the clone's feet still packed and projecting some chi. No, there was no way he was going to let the clone ruin his trap. He kept running and was two feet away when the clogs were about to be stabbed with his wingdings. Only he didn't land on the spikes. The bottoms of his clogs were floating an inch above the metal stars. Nightwing knew this would happen. He also knew that he must hurry and not give the clone a chance to land. He crouched, stuck out his right leg, and swung it at the clone clogs. The sweep kick had upward motion to it. So, when it kick the clogs and knocked the clone's feet from under him, it also sent the clone up half a foot in altitude. Dick grimaced as his legs dug into the tips of the wingdings and flattened them. With the Ancient One about to fall on top of the flattened spikes, Nightwing made a leap to the top of the boulder. With one mighty push in his legs, he left a wake of destruction behind him. Chikara was impressed. This warrior unconsciously was implementing use of her technique before her lesson even started. He completely destroyed the boulder.

Back to Nightwing. He did a front flip in the air and put his leg out, intent on making sure the clone would hit the ground. He looked down and saw the clone already with its butt on the ground. The lesson was over. But that did not hinder the fact that Nightwing was about dropkick his downed opponent. The clone teleported out of the way before he could get pummeled. That left Nightwing to dropkick the ground and send a dust cloud in the air. When the cloud cleared, Nightwing was standing in a crater with a spiderweb pattern. Dick looked around to find Bruce and found him helping the real Ancient One to his feet.

"The lesson ends," the Ancient One declared. "You have both passed. You may resign to your quarters. Meditate on what you've done here today so that you may sharpen your senses. Here, take this."

He held out his hands and smoke erupted from them. When it cleared, he was holding bandages for Nightwing's leg wound and replacement clothes for the both of them. Nightwing thanked the Ancient One profusely for the clothes. His costume was starting feel uncomfortable and he was itching. He and Bruce slung their clothes over their shoulders, while Dick applied the bandage to his wound. The duo started walking towards their rooms in the monastery. As Dick passed the Ancient One, he sent him a devious smile that promised trickery. The Ancient One mirrored the smile and sent it back. Thus, the Fellow Jokesters Alliance was born. All hail the FJA!

As the duo disappeared from view, the Ancient One spoke up.

"What do you think, Chikara," he inquired as she strode into view.

"They hold much more potential than we thought the previous acolytes had when they first started. But once they complete their training, I believe they will hold as much peak potential as each of the four brothers has. We have no time to make the mistakes of the past," she replied.

The Ancient One nodded.

"By the way, one more bowl of onigiri for another day with your training grounds," the short man subtly and nonchalantly offered.

The internal war raged once again. She could get suckered out of her training grounds once again and get her onigiri or she could just out right refuse the man and miss out on the delicacy. The choice was clear.

"Deal," she replied. She missed the smirk the appeared on the short man's face.

* * *

_(in the hallways of the monastery, near the acolyte's quarters)_

As Dick and Bruce walked in the hallways, they had a lot to catch up on. Dick relayed a tale of his encounter with Darkseid's parademons in Bludhaven when the New-God-merged-with-Brainiac invaded Earth. Bruce, in turn, told his protégé his story of how he was actually fighting Darkseid and managed to slip a kick into his head. This sent Dick once again into the doom-and-gloom mood for the millionth time. The Tribunal monastery had a quarters building with perpendicular corridors. When the corridors intersected, they intersected into a 20x20 foot square room. Back to where Dick and Bruce were, about to approach the room. As they got close to the room, both master and student suddenly halted and hid. Someone was nearby and it definitely was not the Tribunal. The Tribunal's presence gave them a different feeling than this person's. And judging by the fact that nobody passed by in the next few seconds, that other person had sensed them, too. Tired by the day's proceedings, they were oblivious to the fact that their masks were not on. The duo walked out of their hiding place, and Bruce spoke up.

"Who's there?" Bruce called. A gasp was heard and a figure walked out of the shadows.

"Bruce Wayne."

Bruce and Dick narrowed their eyes very dangerously, finally aware of the fact their masks were not on.

"Karai Saki."

* * *

**And the curtain falls, only to open again in…whenever I get my internet back. It looks like Bruce is going to have a "talk" with the Tribunal. Anyway, I just watched the last episode of BTTS, Wedding Bells and Bytes, for the 20****th**** time. What escapes me is that the eight acolytes plus the Tribunal took down the Tengu Shredder, yet they, plus a whole bunch of allies, had a hard time taking down the Cyber-Shredder. I was really looking forward to seeing the Tribunal's powers again. Another question that I have is why didn't the acolytes who didn't break their amulets wear them to the wedding? That's one/two things I'm doing with this story. Making sure that the goofs of Wedding Bells and Bytes are fixed, and to eliminate weaknesses that I saw in the post-Lost Season plot. Just so you know, right now, the acolytes still have the old version of the amulets around their necks (that's one of the fixes). These are going to be upgraded. If you want to know a hint about where this story is going, re/watch BTTS episode 1 and figure it out. That is the spoiler. Also, about the Justice Force. I know that the Justice Force played a role in battling the Tengu Shredder's demons. They seem to be the main superhero group in TMNT. However, in this story, I'm going to have them as a superhero group protecting NYC, like the Teen Titans and Jump City. The Justice League in this story has the job of protecting the world. I'm a hardcore Batman, Justice League, and TMNT fan, so I don't intend this gesture as an offense to hardcore TMNT fans. I'm just trying to balance the shows out. This is a crossover.**

**Raisuka: Lightning Scar**

**Chikyuban: Earth Burn**

**Aisukuiru: Ice Quill**

**Tsurison: Tree Thorn**

**Mizuasshu: Water Ash**

**Sunazefa: Sand Zephyr**

**Kagehebi: Shadow Snake (imagine his voice being like Dark Zetsu in the Naruto Japanese version)**

**Hajime: Start/begin**

**Bunshin: Clone**

_**Next: Revelations**_


	8. Reediting Update

**DISCLAIMER: Do you think I should bother with the disclaimer? It's not like I'm mentioning any of this story's characters. So, in your face Nickelodean and DC! I OWN this chapter fair and square! Hahahahahaha! Uhem…**

To all my faithful readers, and others,

I just went through my story a couple days ago, and I started noticing that I'm creating a couple inconsistencies in the storyline. So, for the next week, I'm going to be working on re-editing the story to make it a little more intact. I also noticed that the first few chapters, humor-wise, were really dry. So in the re-editing, I'm going to make the chapters much longer with more detail, and make sure to run jokes, comebacks, witticisms back and forth. So, the next time I update, the whole story will be re-edited and a new chapter posted. So when I update again, make sure reread the whole story first before reading the latest chapter. By that time, I'd probably would have reached the 20,000 word mark. I'm probably going to be doing this every ten chapters or so.

Peace and Cheers,

revoltninja

* * *

Re-update:

Sorry if the re-editing is taking to long. I've been using a shared computer and getting kicked off of it does little/no good from my story. I hope you guys accept Kakashi-grade excuses. In this story, I'm going to be taking elements from other shows that I've watched, so it's not necessarily going to be a crossover between 3 or more shows.

Ja ne,

revoltninja

* * *

One week before starting point: Tribunal spies on Foot mystic meeting.

Starting Point: Turtles Forever

2 days after TF: Karai is recruited by Tribunal

1 week after TF: Batman and Nightwing are recruited by Tribunal

Around one week and two days after TF: Bats and Birdboy meet Karai

3 weeks after TF: Turtles and Acolytes are summoned to Tribunal

To Be Updated


	9. Revelations

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any of these shows or characters. TMNT, Batman, Nightwing, you name it. **** copyright laws. I do, although, own the new elementals mystics, the weapons coming up, the new amulets, and the characters' avatars.

* * *

"It's been a long time, Karai," Bruce stated, fingering a batarang under his cape. This wasn't exactly the best scenario Bruce could imagine himself in at this moment. His secret was just revealed to a revenge-obsessed pseudo-Shredder who had sabotaged some of his most promising WayneTech projects and experiments.

Normally, when an adversary discovered his alter ego, he would employ a variety of tactics to make sure it wouldn't spread out into the public faster than Californian wildfires. He could have J'onn (the Martian) wipe their mind of the knowledge, make them seem insane so nobody would believe them (Hugo Strange), or he could just scare the living crap out of them. For some odd reason, that usually worked! And then there were those with honor, i.e. Ra's al Ghul and his daughter. But Karai was a totally different story. She pretty much had the same amount of money he does. Bruce doesn't know anything about her training, but if it was far enough to allow her to break into the Ninja Tribunal Monastery, than it must be worth taken note for. Does that fact that she once had almost total control over the New York City underworld count as points against her? Billionaires just aren't what they used to be.

"Indeed, it has," replied Karai in the affirmative as her hand snaked up to her katana slung over her right shoulder. Karai had known Bruce's secret for a couple years, and judging by the unforeign and unsurprised (although you can never count on that fact when you're dealing with THE Batman) look on his face, Bruce had known her deep dark secret, too. Branching off of this fact, she honestly would be surprised if the playboy also knew about all the secret underhanded dealings the Foot has conducted (past term) or that her adoptive father is an Utrom. Speaking of the alien, she had a nagging feeling he had survived their encounter in Turtle Prime. Once again, being a billionaire and having the right resources can afford very interesting results.

"Yeah," piped up Nightwing, striking a thinking pose, "Last time you two met was in the office when you were signing that deal to hand over information from the LexCorp-WayneTech teamup in exchange for handing over humanitarian projects in Africa. That is obviously not counting your alter egos duking it out on top of that Vienna Sausage building at 23rd and Livington in Gotham. I saw the surveillance tapes. Both of you seemed to have a unnaturally strong urge to throw each other unto that pitchfork. I wonder why?" Does he know how to lighten a mood or what?

The two business magnates turned towards each other again, albeit both were sporting small twitches in their faces. "What are you doing in this monastery?" They both yelled at each other simultaneously. They both stepped back in alarm or confusion. During his travels, Bruce had studied under various masters of various arts. As such, he could practically read a person's emotions from the getgo. He could probably read a dead man. And if that didn't work, there were always...other forms of persuasion. That is why Bruce was particularly confused. Why did she speak in a tone that suggested that HE was the intruder. She knew that tone. The tone indicated that you were partly offended, and mostly confused. Unless you were REALLY good at controlling and exhibiting your emotions, that was pretty much impossible. Even Bruce would have trouble exhibiting that emotion with ease.

"I repeat," said Bruce menacingly, the batarang in his hand now in full view and his arm cocked back, "How did you get into this monastery?"

"That is my question," Karai replied equally, albeit with a strained voice.

"Ooh, lovers' spat," said Nightwing, commenting on the situation from off to the side. He, to the utter confusion of the two billionaires, pulled a notebook and pencil out from one of his "hidden" pockets and was writing away furiously. He was also oblivious to the growing irritation radiating from both martial artists. The warning bells in his head started ringing out of control as his senses caught something slicing through the air. His head jerked up immediately to find a shuriken and batarang flying right at him. He hastily jumped out of the way and turned his attention to Karai and Bruce. Both had (noticeable) veins popping on their foreheads.

"Sheesh," he said as he put his blackmail, I mean, writing materials away, "billionaires and their hair triggers." He jumped out of the way AGAIN to dodge another shuriken and batarang. "Just whose side are you on?" he asked/shouted comically at his mentor.

"Back to present business," Karai said as she turned her attention back to Bruce. "As for me, I'm here because I'm an acolyte of the Ninja Tribunal." She fully unsheathed her right shoulder katana and pointed it at Bruce. "Now it's your turn. Why are you here?"

"Acolyte, hah?" Bruce asked quizzically, completely ignoring the question and the fact that he had a 2 1/2 foot katana pointed at him. Typical. "It sounds unbelievable as Karai Saki the Billionaire being the Shredder and crime lord of the NYC underground."

"Former Shredder and crime lord," she corrected before she donned a smirk. "But then again, maybe it is not as unbelievable as THE Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, being out in the broad daylight."

"Oh man," Dick laughed. "Dude, she really nailed you on that one. Oh, HAHAHAHAHA! MY SIDES! Oh man, that's hilarious! HAHAHAHA! First Catwoman and now Karai. Oh man, there is no way I'm forgetting this!" He took out his notepad and pencil again and was writing down info faster than ever. "Wait 'til Alfred gets his hands on this!" Bruce's eyes and eyebrows went up in alarm. There was no way that info was getting to Alfred. He had a reputation to keep after all. He was going chase after that notepad with religious fervor. But, back to more...pressing matters.

"It would seem that both of us belong here. I, too, was recruited by the Tribunal, as was my protege," he told Karai, truth lacing through his words.

Karai, however, was skeptical. She sheathed her katana and stepped back a little. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, waiting for a few moments. On her chest, the Three-Toed Sign of the Dragon glowed. Bruce noticed a major change about her. Her clothes were the same ones she wore during Foot training, but the TTS of the Dragon symbol on her chest had the three toes pointing down, the true sign of the Ninja Tribunal. Her eyes snapped opened, and her amulet's glow vanished. Her eyes did not hold the same luster that they had a couple seconds ago. Those eyes were sharp and held fury. She hastily jumped back and unsheathed both of her katanas.

"There is no way the Ninja Tribunal would recruit someone who has as much dark chi as you do...intruder!" she said as she spat the word with venom. She leapt at him with both katanas poised at him to strike. She was performing a moderately difficult kenjutsu maneuver. Nothing that Bruce hadn't already studied with his sensei. However, he was too shocked by the sudden turn of events, and the slight fatigue from training made sure that he couldn't dodge it without getting cut, AGAIN. There was only two ways to counter it. One was to grab a katana his two hands. But Karai had two katanas, and that already ruled out that option. The other way was to find where the balance in the blade was weakest, then strike there. But the only way to find where the balance in the blade was weakest was to hold the blade yourself and take a few practice swings with it. That's why the technique was only used in training. There was no way he could find the weakest point unlesssss...he hastily closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He focused inwards, and desperately recalled his training half an hour before. The Bat on his chest glowed. Tribal markings crawled all across his costume, making him look feral. His eyes snapped open, glowing. His gaze shifted to the blades about to attack him. Marvelous craftsmanship. Even Bruce had to admire it. But no time for that now. The balance in the blades was almost equal in all areas. However, on one katana, the one in her right hand, a weak spot emerged three-fourths of the way up the blade. On the other katana, the balance was weaker in a spot closer to the hilt.

He only had one chance to do this. He brought his hands up and got ready to hit those precise spots. But there was no time! The blades were coming fast and he could only deflect one before the other one hit. Reacting on instinct, his right arm flew and hit the katana in Karai's right hand. He looked to the other one and saw four inches away from striking his right hip. No TIME!

Nightwing fell out of nowhere and dropkicked the katana. The katana snapped out of Karai's hands and the blade plunged point-first into the ground. Bruce could hold his focus and immediately snapped out of FCM. Miraculously, Dick brought himself at the last second together and landed on his two feet close to the grounded katana. Bruce was speechless. Karai was speechless. They both looked over to where the former Boy Wonder had previously been, and saw his notepad and pencil on the ground. It would be simple for anyone to deduce what the situation was and how it got to that point. Dick, just as surprised as Bruce, looked up from his materials and found Karai attacking Bruce. He dropped his notepad and pencil, evident by the fact that they were carelessly lying on the ground. For future reference, Bruce is going to grab that notepad even if it costs him his saw Bruce snapping out of his stupor too late, snapped into action himself, and went after Karai and get those blades away from Bruce. But the real question was, HOW did he get there that fast when Bruce was unable to get away. A glance at Dick revealed that he also was utterly confused and flabbergasted as to how he got there so fast. While they couldn't explain HOW he got there, they could explain WHY. Right there in front of them was Dick in his FCM (Focus/Concentration Mode), with all the cool fire markings and that stuff. That right there practically explained everything.

"She caught you offguard, ha, Bruce? You must be losing your touch," Dick said mockingly with a smirk. He picked up Karai's katana and tossed it back to her. She snapped out of her shock just fast enough to catch the blade by the hilt.

"Shut it, kid," retorted Bruce. Dick winced. He hated being called that. It reminded him of his time under Bruce's shadow. "By the looks of things, you were surprised, too."

"Speaking of which," Dick started. He closed his eyes and calmed himself as he entered FCM. He focused on sensing Bruce's chi. Soon enough, any limits on his chi sensing were lifted and he could see/feel Bruce's chi clearly. It looks like what Karai said was half-right. Bruce's chi was light blue (not sky blue), just like any other human. But it had a black shade, not too dark and not too light...almost like navy blue. This no doubt was caused by his experiences tainting him as a little kid and his career as Batman. She was right. The Tribunal wouldn't recruit someone with dark chi like him, unless... He opened his eyes and turned off FCM.

"You know, lady," Dick began as he turned to Karai, "I can see where you're coming from about Bruce having dark chi and everything. Seriously, I really can. But it looks like there is a reason the Tribunal has recruited him. (Dramatic pause) He can control his dark chi to an extent where he does not become evil or hurt those around him. Show'em Bruce." Bruce growled. He DID NOT like to be showcased around like he was on display at the local carnival. Bruce sunk his eyelids and focused, bringing out the powers and potential than were so long hidden in him. The fire marking traveled up and across his costume. He opened his eyes to show them glowing faintly. His eyes shifted to the notepad lying on the ground. Dick followed his gaze to his prize lying on the ground and froze.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dick's legs starting automatically moving as he tried to save his oh-so-good-and-funny memories from two minutes ago (imagine Calvin running away from Hobbes with religous fervor). Where was that speed when you needed it? Bruce took out a batarang and fired it at evidence of his misfortunes lying on the ground. You know, there is a reason Bruce can hit a target bullseye 96 out of 100 times. Combine that with FCM and Dick not thinking rationally enought to save his notepad, and you got a batarang going 100+ miles an hour with nothing to stop it. The batarang's edge pierced through the heart of the notepad and pinned it to the ground. At least it didn't slice through it. Dick stopped a few feet away from it and spun around.

"HA! Your plan did not work, evil master!," he shouted as he shook his fist at Bruce. "I can STILL recover my hard-earned work (A/N: Hard-earned work my ****. All he did was sit around and watch other people totally embarass themselves) and there is no way...oh god." And once again, Murphy's Law makes an appearance to once again cement the fact that...it will NEVER stop tormenting people just for the sake of its entertainment. Dick paled as the batarang behind him exploded. Bruce's eyes were as wide as saucers. He was not expecting this. But, the more BOOM, the better. That thing had to GO.

"It look like I might have accidently (key word) packed it with some chi," Bruce chuckled.

Dick looked at him like he had grown two heads (no pun intended on the alter egos). "MIGHT have pack SOME chi into it. Bruce, you blew up poor little Teki with the force of a grenade! Oh, oh, poor Teki!" Bruce and Karai sweatdropped at Dick's pet name for his notepad. Dick fell to his knees and try to salvage whatever what left of Teki. He picked up it's spine and immediately let it go as the molten hot metal started burning through the fingers of his costume.

Karai sheathed her two katanas. "Well, this is awkward," Karai said the obvious as she watched Dick mysteriously pulled a baseball cap out of nowhere and put it on his chest, weeping.

"Yes, it sure is. But this does not excuse the Tribunal for revealing my secret so carelessly and needlessly," Bruce said with suspicion lacing his tone.

"Do not worry, Wayne. I already knew. My father also knows or knew, it kind of hard to tell." Bruce's eyes narrowed suspiciously at her, giving her the signal how to go on. Karai got the hint. "Last time I saw him, he was trapped or killed in a 'world between worlds', quote on quote. I have a nagging feeling that he wasn't killed."

"I don't care whether you knew or not. That still does not give them the right to..."

"ENOUGH!" roared Juto, suddenly appearing before them with the rest of the Tribunal. Hey, even immortals have a level on their patience. This immortal just happens to be one of the darker and more irritated emos of the group. "Stop this nonsense bickering! You humans squabble like fools, unaware of the destruction that might be unleashed! You are a team, and for such a team of ninja to function, secrets will be revealed! Be warned, we value your lives less than we value stopping the resurrection of the Shredder!"

Dick narrowed his eyes at the Ninjutsu Master of Weapons. He stood up from his crouched position and stared defiantly at Juto. "You know, for a moment," Dick began silently, "Me and Bruce actually thought that you people were unlike the many ninjas that we have met in our travels.

"Kyodai Ken, the League of Shadows," continued Bruce, "All of them...dishonorable. Every one of them, willing to go to the extremes, even killing, to achieve his or their goals. Seeing everyone now, I know one thing for sure. Ninjas NEVER change. Built to be assassins. Destroyers. Not peacekeepers. Nothing ever changes."

And with that, he turned on his heel and continued toward his quarters. Dick spared a glance at Karai and the rest of the Tribunal before he himself turned around and followed his surrogate father. Only the Ancient One and Karai seemed to be the only one disturbed by Juto's outburst.

* * *

_(at Bruce's and Dick's quarters)_

Their little...encounter...with the Ninja Tribunal was the first and last straw for them. If they didn't even value the lives of those they were sending out to fight the Shredder, then why fight for THEM. They'll fight their own way. With honor. They had to contact someone trustworthy fast.

"Dick, we're going change out of our costumes and into some regular clothes," said Bruce, shifting into leader mode. Dick didn't object. "Find something to pack our costumes in and let's break out of here." Batman put his cowl over his head and tapped his ear. "Batman to Justice League. J'onn, can you hear me? J'onn?"

"No answer?" asked Nightwing, even though it was more of a statement. His domino mask was already back on. Bruce shook his head. Dick reached to the comm in his right ear. "Alfred?" Static. "Barbara? Tim? Anyone?" Static. Nothing but pure, blasted static. He turned to the resident part-time Justice Leaguer. Bruce saw the look in his protege's eyes and confirmed that they both had the same amount of success in reaching their comrades.

Dick went into the bathroom and changed. He came out wearing civilian clothes. He was wearing a pure blue polo shirt and black cargo pants. Slung over his shoulder is his costume with his mask in his hands. Many of his weapons were taken out of their "hidden" compartments and put into his cargo pants. His communicator was still in his ear to see if he could get any success in the future. On his chest was his Ninja Tribunal medallion.

He nodded to Bruce, indicating that it was his turn to change. Bruce went in and started changing. Meanwhile, Dick was looking around the room to see if he could find places to put their costumes. Laying around on the floor were two beds. They didn't look like one the more comfortable beds he had slept in, but hey, who was he to complain? And then there were some adorned pillars to keep the ceiling up. Typical. Ah, he found it. Three empty 5-gallon straw baskets in the corner of the room.

Bruce came out of the bathroom also in civilian clothes. He was wearing a black full-sleeve shirt and light grey regular pants (Bruce's outfit at the end of "Animal Act" in TNBA). In direct contrast to his protege, his costume was wrapped up in a bundle. He was trying to keep the pieces of armor that went on the Batsuit from falling. Keyword "tried". He was fumbling. His gadget belt was slung over his left shoulder. His Ninja Tribunal amulet was resting on his chest, which directly contrasted with the black shirt he was wearing. Dick walked up to the older man with the three baskets stacked inside of each other.

"You ready?" Bruce asked as he finally dropped his wares on the floor.

"Yea," Dick said as he took the baskets out of each other. He set the tops to the baskets on the floor. In one basket went his costume and some of Bruce's armor. In another basket went Bruce's costume and the rest of his armor. The other basket had Bruce's gadget belt and the rest of Nightwing's gadgets that he didn't put on himself. Bruce slung the strings to his costume and gadget basket over his right shoulder, while Dick took his basket over his left shoulder. They both turned to face the door into the hallway.

"You do know that the only way to escape out of THE Ninja Tribunal monastery is to use their own tricks against them, right?" Dick asked/confirmed. He knew that Bruce already had that in mind. The billionaire nodded and close his eyes along with his protege. The two crimefighting vigilantes calmed down and fell slowly into FCM. Their amulets glowed brightly, including the TTS of the Dragon in the middle. This times however, the fire and tribal markings did not make their appearances on their skin.

You see, without their amulets, their chi ran throughout their body uncontrolled and easy for the Tribunal to detect. If they slipped into FCM and tried to employ some tricks they saw in the books, they might be able to slip past them. Now that they could feel their chi just like the Tribunal could, both of them focused and tried to supress their chi by making it feel lighter and nonexistent. They both used the chi sensing technique on each other to make sure they were doing it right. It took a lot of tries, but finally they got it down to what they hoped was undetectable levels. Now they just hoped that stupid technique that they taught in the book was enough to get by the Tribunal. They stealthily made their way to the door. Bruce peeked out to see if there was anyone patrolling the hallways. Although, both felt pretty sure they were empty, they could hear Karai walking around her quarters and it didn't hurt to check.

"Just where do you think you are going?" asked a small, low, and squeaky voice suddenly behind them as they about to head out the door. They turned around and there he was, the Ancient One. He was not clothed in his Tribunal garb. Instead, he was wearing his Tribunal armor and a straw hat (A/N: Remember his hat back when he was training Leo? If you don't, it's what Kyoraku Taicho wears on his head). He also ditched the red glowing eyes.

"But, how," asked a stammering Nightwing as he tried to comprehend how their chi supression technique could've failed when the two vigilantes could barely sense each other.

"Ninjutsu Master of Senses," the Ancient One said matter-of-factly. Dick nearly palmed himself in the face. How could he forget it? "You would do well to remember that. It seems your chi sensing has barely made any progress if you cannot detect me behind you. I was not even supressing my chi," he whined. "Although I must commend you on your supression skills. (dramatic pause) Sit down, we have much to discuss. After that, you may go if you please."

Bruce, sensing no deception from the short man, walked towards a tatami mat and sat down. Dick followed right after that. The Ancient One sat across from them.

"I sense you are angered," he began. "Is it because of Juto Shisho's remarks?" Nightwing began standing up, intent on leaving if the Ninjutsu master didn't have anything useful to say. "Sit back down, young Grayson. I'm not done yet." Despite his short size, his voice was one full of authority. He sat back down. "We of the Ninja Tribunal are all warriors. We are also forces of nature. And each one of us has his or her most apparent trait. Hisomi Shisho is known for his silence. Chikara Shisho is known for her strictness in training. Kon Shisho is known for his words of value and encouragement. And finally, Juto Shisho. He is known for his criticism and pointing out weak spots of those he trains."

"What about you, shisho?" asked Bruce. The short man explained everyone else's personality but his.

"Please, I was never one for formalities. Just call me Ancient One or sensei," he replied. "If you want to know what my personality is like, just use your chi-sensing," he smirked (A/N: If I haven't told you before, the chi-sensing is the Byakugan's chakra-sensing feature).

Bruce activated FCM along with his protege. His focus shifted to trying to feel for the Ancient One's chi so he could view. Once he finished the task, he marvelled at the short man's chi network. His chi was red, and he guessed from this fact that maybe all the other Tribunal respective colors matched the color of their chi network. But what was truly amazing was the way the chi flowed. It flowed freely and made the chi network feel light, both figuratively and literally, instead of dark. Hey, he recognized the way it flowed, it was almost like...his protege that was right next to him! He screamed so loud mentally that it caused a certain being to shrivel up.

He blinked absentmindedly for a second before he clutched his head as if he were in pain. "Oh god," Bruce panted nervously, almost on the brink of insanity. Seriously, how could you ignore all of Joker's and Dick's taunts without getting mentally tainted? "No more trickster's, please" he pleaded to nobody in particular with a whisper.

Unfortunately, it was still loud enough for Dick and (obviously) the Ancient One to hear. The Ancient One gave a wicked smile and pulled something out from behind his back and gave it to Dick. The former Boy Wonder gasped as Bruce looked up.

"Teki!" Dick cryed as he clutched and held onto his dear revived notepad for dear life. Bruce stared on with eyes wide in horror as his protege started writing down what happened ten second earlier. He turned towards the obese master with righteous fury in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. But it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. You're right, my personality is one that contains much humor and mischief. However, there are times when we all have to be serious. Dead serious. And one of these times are now." Dick already stopped writing down embarrassing material in his notepad and was turned towards the master, wearing a dead serious face just like Bruce. The Ancient One continued on. "Do you not remember your first lesson? Perception is not alway truth. All you think you know about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself, will be tested. That includes your knowledge of the legacy of the ninja. Back in the day, during the first millenia A.D., ninjas were warriors. Yes, ninjas were assassins and mercenaries. But, those ninjas fought with honor. Juto Shisho, Kon Shisho, Chikara Shisho, and Hisomi Shisho are the last remaining ninja of that age. Also, ninja of that age did not have mystical powers like those of the Tribunal. The Tribunal themselves scoured the land in search of masters of the arts to defeat the Shredder. But, we're getting off-topic. Back to the legend of the ninja. Ninja were assassins and warriors with honor. However, their reputation started to tarnish centuries later. It all started when the alien bug known as Ch'rell crash landed on earth as a prisoner after he sabotaged his transport ship. Yes, the same Utrom that adoptive little Karai as a child." Bruce and Dick froze up at this. They weren't surprised that Ch'rell was a prisoner. They were surprised though that he killed his transport ship. I mean what kind of idiot would try to blow up a ship that he was riding in space of all places? Wheels were spinning around like crazy in Bruce's head. Links were starting to make themselves known.

"TCRI?" Bruce asked.

The Ancient One's eyes widened for a moment before settling down. A smirk formed on his lips.

"It looks like all the rumors about you are true. You are indeed a brilliant detective," he said. Bruce didn't blush or glow at the praise, but just continued to be the same. "Every employee of TCRI was an Utrom." Bruce look surprised at this. Bruce tried to reach out to TCRI multiple times to strike a deal, but they always turned the offer down kindly. Curious, Bruce tried to hack their computers, but found that their systems were so well protected that Kryptonian technology couldn't even hack it. Although he never did tell Superman that he "borrowed" some of the Kryptonian tech from StarLabs in order to conduct the endeavor. Nor was he ever going to tell him either. What the Kryptonian tech did detect however, was that there was technology that was Kryptonian level or higher in that building. "Those Utroms were the very ones that were transporting Ch'rell in his prison transport ship," he continued. "When the ship crashed, they were stranded on earth. To blend in with the resident, they built electronic exo-suits from the remains of their ship. The prisoner stole an exo-suit and outfitted it in armor, taking the name of the demon for his own. The Shredder. That is what he named himself. He was believed to be the reincarnation of the demon thought to be subdued in the Japanese myths. In order to increase his power and control over Japan, he took the name of the Foot for his own and created the Foot Clan, an army of ninja. These ninja were taught by him. Trained by him. Doomed, by HIM. They were ruthless. They destroyed the name of the ninja. That is why most ninja today have no honor." Bruce and Dick were downcast. They did not expect THIS to be the truth. "However, the TCRI found a way to counter this threat. They made friends with certain humans they could trust. They employed them as Guardians, sworn to protect the Utroms with the true honorable ninjutsu taught to them and their lives. My prize pupil, Hamato Yoshi, was a Guardian. He swore to protect the Utroms at the cost of his life, and that, he did. He was discovered and killed by the Utrom Shredder when he refused to divulge information about TCRI, just like a true ninja," he bowed his head sorrowfully as he recalled the painful memories.

"I'm sorry about my outburst, sensei," Dick said apologetically with his eyes watering up. Bruce refused to let his emotions show, but it was obvious that he was softened up, if the downcast face and the sad frown on his face were any clue.

"You are not blamed for something you don't know. But however, you can be blamed for not expecting this. The world of the ninja is harsh. You may not know what might happen to you in the next day, the next hour, or even the next second. That is why you must be always be cautious and expect the unexpected." And with that he lunged his forefinger and middle finger at Bruce's face. Bruce reacted immediately and brought his hand up to grab the Ancient One's two pointed fingers. The short man stopped and pulled his hand away, putting both of hands behind his back in a careless manner before walking away.

"You are learning to expect the unexpected. Your reaction time is improving. You two would do well to meditate on your training session earlier today. By the well, be sure to get lots of sleep. The unexpected may just make you drop in exhaustion." And with that, he left out of the door.

"So Bruce, what's the verdict," asked Dick. "Are you staying or not? As far as I'm concerned, forget the League for now. I'm sure some of the mystics up there in that orbiting clubhouse have detected something. If we are going to be fighting an ultra-powerful demon Shredder with powers over who-knows-what, we better find a way to fight it on equal terms. And the only way I can think of taken it down is if we train with these guys and develop some powers of our own. I know you are not exactly fond of having superpowers, Bruce. But we're going against the demon Shredder for crying out loud, who I'm fairly sure is at least 5 times stronger than Darkseid/Braniac. I'm going to stay here for now, Bruce. I gotta see this to the end."

"Maybe the Ninja Tribunal isn't as self-centered and dishonorable as we thought they are. Maybe we have a future with the Tribunal. Maybe we can give everyone we know a future to look forward to if we stop the Tengu Shredder. Maybe...just maybe..."

* * *

**And we finish this chapter at about 5,500 words. I'm sorry for not updating in a long time. If you accept Kakashi-grade excuses, than I have one. I've been using a shared computer. I'm not kidding. Honest to goodness. So just to ease your concerns, no, I'm NOT abandoning the story. If you want spoilers as to Nightwing's weapon, here it is:**

**/watch?v=jjT-BOwwM_Y**** (look at the character's weapon)**

**/photos/37265180N05/4566785446/in/faves-29136307N06/**

**Those both are close representations at what Nightwing's weapons are going to be, although the Flickr one is MUCH closer. I've changed the timeline of the story. There is more time between the major events of the story to give me the flexibility to fit more cool events into those time gaps. The new timeline is displayed in Chapter 8: Re-editing Update. Also, soon, I might be writing a new story. It's a crossover between Naruto and X-Men Evolution, for those who are fans of either/both shows.**

* * *

_Next on "They Don't Stay Dead, Do They": UNLEASH!_


	10. Run, Run, RUN!

**DISCLAIMER:**** I DO NOT own TMNT, Batman, Nightwing, or Bleach. Nickelodean owns TMNT, DC owns Batman and Nightwing, and Shonen Jump (I think) owns Bleach. Or is it Tite Kubo? I honestly forgot. Personally, I don't know why the heck Mirage Studios sold TMNT to Nick. It just baffles me.**

* * *

_(up in the magic floating clubhouse, aka Justice League Watchtower)_

The Justice League Watchtower is such a magical place. It fills you with wonder and awe. It had hundreds of rooms just for the sake of people living there. It's a giant big HOTEL. Only, it's for superheroes that are doing your everyday little goody-goody deeds. And right now, nine of those goody-goody heroes were sporting grim faces that made them look reminiscent of Batman. One of those heroes was in his magic (yes) tower of solitude searching through his books to pinpoint what he was feeling earlier. The energy backlash that Doctor Fate felt was dark. No dah, that's what every evil presence feels like. But there was something else. The presence was demon. Also too vague. It felt ancient. Tell me one demon that is not ancient. It also felt...stealthy. And so were the energies that were countering his search for Batman. Now we're getting somewhere.

He sat down again and focused on the dark energy that was trying to be awakened. Even though he was a renowned magician was still unknown mystical and very strong potential hidden in his equipment, the concentration and the know-how still put a toll on him. Beads of sweat were rolling down his face. He tried to navigate his way through the dark clouds and dig through the dark layers of the presence. This presence had committed lots of mass murder and injustice to earn himself all these dark elements that make up his energy signature. He finally got to the core. And there he was, in for the surprise of his life. This energy was almost exactly like the pure energy that was blocking him out, only a little bit tainted. Stealthy. He was no Batman, but his deductive skills were nothing to laugh at. At one point in time, this evil presence had been in league with those pure energies, only he wasn't so evil, only a tiny bit tainted. Somewhere, somehow, and sometime, the evil presence had taken control of the tainted person and merged with him/her, converting the tainted person into a complete evil demon. THAT'S IT! That demon had merged with the tainted one, and the pure energies fought to get rid of it. Stealthy. That's how both the evil and pure energies felt.

What was something stealthy that involved Batman and his protege? This is where most Leaguers would just facepalm themselves, including Doctor Fate. Batman and Nightwing are the embodiment of stealth and warriors! How's that going to help them? The good Doctor got back to the point. There must be something related to stealth that has connections with Batman or his past. Nelson had tried for years to find out the Batman's secret identity, but gave up out of respect after meeting him. But, a couple things he knew about Batman was that he was human, and he trained for a long time to get up to the level he was at right now. So where would Batman learn stealth? Of course!

_'Ninja...in Japan,' _he thought with wide eyes as he slowly realized.

Demons. Ninja. Pure energies. Mystical Powers. Traitors. Japan. Now the pieces were starting to fall in place. He remembered an incident where he came across all the characteristics in a legend that he was reading. He levitated a scroll from a shelf in his library and unfurled it. He went to his personal Mystic Google and put in the info that he had deduced. The scroll faded away silently, and in its place, the kanji for "seal" in black ink faded into view. The masked magician waved his hand over the Japanese character and the seal glowed red before breaking into thousands of tiny little pieces and dispersing. Such amateur mystics and magicians. To think that they could create a seal that could bar him! Such fools. Doctor Fate snapped out of his Sith Lord rant and eyes widen at the information that was now present in his mind. Now everything made sense. The Ninja Tribunal never died, and the Tengu Shredder is back. He now knew the past and present. The Ninja Tribunal has taken the two vigilantes into their folds. But there was something wrong. He sensed nine others whom he didn't know and couldn't track that could do the exact same job. So why those two?

This is too serious. He must report this to the Justice League immediately. He levitated in the air and spread his arms, ready to teleport to the observation deck of the Watchtower. As he tried to activate his teleporting, Doctor Fate's eyes widened in surprise. He swiftly turned around and looked around. Who dared to intrude on his tower?

"You will do NOTHING," commanded a echoing voice.

* * *

_(at the Ninja Tribunal training grounds)_

Hisomi Shisho. Ninjutsu Master of Stealth. Bronze glowing eyes...and that was just about it. Bruce displayed more emotions than this guy, and that in of itself was something big. That guy did not utter one word and his face betrayed nothing. While Juto had displayed aggressive emotions and Ancient One displayed a humorous attitude, Hisomi displayed...nothing. That guy was a massive statue...minus the moving and speed part. And now here they were, following the master through a tunnel towards who-knows-what.

_'Maybe we're walking right into a training ground littered with rice pudding golems and giant prairie moles. Nah, shake off those pessimistic thoughts, Grayson.'_

They came onto a small platform that jutted out of what seemed to be a very steep mountainside. There were a few trees on that ledge. But the most distinguishing feature of the landscape was a bridge connecting their ledge to another ledge on a similar mountain. If you cut the bridges in half and let them fall, you could/maybe/would/probably think that those two were twins. And speaking of bridges, that thing looked like it hadn't been touched in centuries, and considering the Tribunal's age, Dick was tempted to believe it. After walking to the "entrance" of the bridge, the towering master stopped. He turned around and stared down at the two puny acolytes (_HEY!_). He started making hand signs to try and get his point across. The two vigilantes, in their travels, had studied hand signals in order to understand the deaf. They know how to fluently speak/talk/sign in nine languages. But you didn't need to understand English or Japanese to know what he was trying to convey. Basically, he was telling you to walk across the bridge. Or more like he was showing how to by making his index and middle fingers "run" along his arm.

There had to be a catch to it. OK, there was a catch. The boards were over a 1000 years old! But that couldn't be the catch. The Ninja Tribunal wouldn't just bring them out there to make them walk a bridge. Besides, the Tribunal had to know that Grayson was a tightrope walker and that rope climbing was practically a superhero must-know. So Bruce could just do it easily as well. After the man finished signing, the two vigilantes waited a minute to so that they could get the catch. There was no way the Tribunal would send them across a stupid bridge just for laughs or entertainment. OK, maybe except for one.

"Feh, must I do this every time. This is getting annoying," mused a squeaky voice behind them.

"Sensei?" both vigilantes asked, surprised. You know, whenever some low-lifes were in the middle of a bank robbery, they would post someone as guard so their fun doesn't get interrupted. And UNsurprisingly, being a guard is just a useless job in Gotham, because you know that the Bat or his kids are going to get the drop on you even if you drank a Gatorade's worth of coffee before. They were just that good. It was the surprised expression on the criminal's face that always bought joy to Dick's day/night. And now, Dick had a hunch that the short man was having the same feeling.

"You're just lovin' this, aren't you," quipped Dick at the Ancient One.

"Yep," the senses master replied matter-of-factly with a small laugh. He turned toward the towering master. "Hisomi Shisho," he bowed. The tall statue returned it, but afterword, started making signs in an annoyed manner (finally, some emotion). "I know, but old habits die hard," the red master said. He turned his head towards the two crimefighters and started explaining.

"I will assist you in this lesson for I was once Hisomi Shisho's (a grunt came from somewhere) student in the shadowcraft art of stealth and speed."

_(insert speech of Hisomi Shisho's untalkable ability, How To Get Superspeed 101, and finally, THE CATCH!)_

"AHAAAA," Dick shouted, but could be heard in the heavens. "That's the catch! To cross the bridge...unseen...and...silently. Oh come on, there's the sun beating down on you and the creaky old boards that look like they haven't been replaced in centuries!" The Ancient One stumbled at that side comment. It did nothing to rest and cool Dick's fear. "It's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible when mind, body, and spirit work together to achieve the same goals. You should try it sometime, maybe now."

"Hey, I take offense to that," Dick pointed out, walking up to the challenge. The Ancient One just smirked.

"Manifest your chi. See it as a flowing river. Free."

Wheels started to turn in Dick's mind. It seemed that the key to everything that the Ninja Tribunal was trying to teach them was focus and concentration. It's just HOW to focus and concentrate your chi that was the real key. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate. The amulet on his chest began to glow and he was feeling his chi. Since they were still in civilian clothes, only a blue aura covered him. He focused on his chi, trying to vision it as free as possible. He walked across the first five boards of the bridge...and then jumped over the edge.

"DICK!" Bruce shouted as he ran to his former ward in panic. A massive hand and body blocked his way. Hisomi Shisho. Should have guessed. He tried to move out of his way and slip past the roadblock, but the speedy master was surprisingly...fast. The massive ninja suddenly grabbed Bruce by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up at an angle.

And there was Dick. Glowing. Using one of the base ropes of the bridge to get himself across. The Ancient One palmed his face at this development. Unseen. There are always loopholes. Despite the fact that the ropes he was hanging on to were the ones connected to the boards, the boards did not creak nor did the bridge sway. Time for Plan B.

The short master jumped way up into the air, and crashlanded in the center of the bridge, making sure the impact made enough noise and echo to be heard for miles around. A growl made it self known below Dick and the Ancient One. The Bludhaven vigilante cast a betrayed look at the guilty man.

"What did you just do," Dick asked.

"I jumped on the bridge. What do you think I just did," the Ancient said/asked innocently.

"I'm so gonna kill revoltninja after this blows over," Dick muttered under his breath, thankfully not heard by the others because of the growling. "Innocent my b***...YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE, BUSTER!" he shouted to the heavens. This time, the others heard it, but a more louder growl made them snap back to more prioritizing issues. The water in the river below started to move. Dick's face went pale immediately. Rule Number 13 of the Superhero Handbook. When you hear growling from something unseen, it is always bad. Always stay away from it. The unknown horrors to be unleashed are directly Dick memorized has recited that rule 1000 times in as many seconds, and no matter how hard he tries, he always ends up in messes like these. I mean, first Joker's hyenas (A/N: thx for reminding me about the hyenas, Shado-Ookami) and now this. Will it ever stop?

A dragon rocketed like a surface-to-air missile to the spot on bridge were Dick was holding on for dear life. Still in FCM, Dick screamed like a child, flipped over and jumped onto the bridge, taking out a wingding from his cargo pants. Instead of crashing into the bridge, the dragon crashed THROUGH the bridge, coming out unharmed. The wood and rope that it went through was also unharmed, but soaked. So it was a water dragon. That made things SO much simpler. But it did make things a bit easier. He put his wingding away and took out three electric wingdings. He only had a couple more left. He would have to make this shot count. He threw the three projectiles at a charging water dragon. One spot hit below the chin, another spot right above the forehead, and the last one hit the side of its mouth. The electricity crackled out of the wingdings and into the dragon. It writhed in pain for a second, but then shook it off and resumed its charge.

Dick snapped out of his shock and jumped over the bridge again right as the creature got near. The structure started to sway. You see, even though Dick was focusing, he was not focusing on envisioning his chi as free and flowing river. So now, when he goes on the bridge, he starts making thunk-thunk noises louder than an elephant. If he jumps off and sticks to the ropes, the bridge starts swaying. Yeah, he's pretty much a dead man.

The dragon turned around and started circling around the bridge, striking at Dick if he went topside or down. After the fifth time of being downside, the dragon circled again and forced him up. This time, the dragon changed strategies and started coiling around the bridge, attempting to bar any escape. Standing on one of the boards, the moment were he saved Bruce from Karai flashed into his mind. How did he do it? One moment he saw Bruce being attacked by Karai, the next he snapped into FCM, and he found himself speeding and striking down one of Karai's katanas. It must have been instinct, because instinct was the only reasonable explanation for having enough speed to give Flash a scare. But what was his instinct?

_'Remember Dick,'_ said Dick's mom as he suddenly and unexpectedly recalled a memory long forgotten. _'To become a Flying Grayson, you must feel like one. When you're balancing, feel free...feel like a flowing river.'_

"Feel free, a flowing river. Feel free, a flowing river. Feel free, a flowing river," Dick repeated by muttering absentmindedly. The Ancient One overheard and smiled. Now he was getting it. Understanding burst into Dick's eyes and he immediately focused on his chi. His mother's words came into mind again and he envisioned the river below him, only calmer and swift. In a burst of speed, he ran right at the dragon's mouth coming right to him. He side-ducked it and was at the other end of the bridge in less than a second. As soon as he got to the other side, he broke his concentration, and pumped his fist into the air with a hurrah. A cry of pain and surprise was heard. The water dragon turned around and went straight to an unsuspecting Dick, only to stop a few yards in the air when it saw the Ninjutsu Master of Stealth holding up a hand telling it to stop. The master gave a bow. The dragon then flew into the air and spread itself out, eventually turning into raindrops.

"Arigato, Hisomi-Shisho," panted a thankful Dick. He had done that last hurrah on a dry energy pool and now he was sitting down taking a breather. That short burst of speed wasn't obviously his first, but it was the first time he knew what he was doing and was actually paying attention. His gazed shifted to the bridge, and there he was. The Ancient One, just as he left him. With a wingding sticking out of his butt. The short man was gazing at the smirking former Boy Wonder with annoyance and surprised anger. It was also a look that promised revenge in the most embarrassing and humiliating way imaginable, and Dick was not willing to test out the little guy's creativity. Dick gulped fearfully as the Ancient One pulled the three-starred shuriken out of his butt. The senses master turned his attention towards Bruce and Dick followed it. Bruce had his mouth hanging open in shock and had still did not snap out of his stupor.

"Now it's your turn."

* * *

_(in the Ninja Tribunal oratory)_

It had been a couple hours since the Ancient One and Hisomi finished the two viligantes' speed training session, and now here they were, sitting in their chairs...and doing NOTHING. The huge wood doors creaked open and a lone figure walked in. She walked up to one of the cushions in front of the lake and took a seat.

"Speak," came the voice of Chikara Shisho.

"Masters, I wish to make a request."

"You are troubled," spoke the Ancient One.

"Yes, I am. If I may, masters, I am disappointed in my progress. I've been meditating on both of my connections day and night for the past week, yet I see the other acolytes progressing farther in fields I have not been privy to yet. Why? Time is not something we can afford to waste. Why are other acolytes training in different skills in a couple days, while I've been meditating on my connections for a WEEK? I do not see other acolytes meditating for weeks on their connections. They proceed past this endeavor and gain strength within every passing second in front of my eyes. Why are you not helping me become stronger!"

Silence reigned for the next 30 seconds. Kon Shisho stood up.

"Your meditation has been your training," he spoke up as he glowed his eyes brightly. "All your meditation this past week has been for one purpose only...to make you stronger. You possess connections that nobody else has. These connections you possess serve as setbacks and weaknesses that you must overcome to continue your training. But, if you gain control of these connections, you have the potential to become stronger than your fellow acolytes. You will have power that they cannot possess. However, if you keep obsessing with power and craving it, then these connections will take control of you. You will become one of them and there will be nothing of you left to save! Remember this, you must be strong in mind, body, and soul to combat the coming evil. You cannot fight if you lack even one of these vital traits. Take good pleasure in the fact that you have been progressing. You have made considerable progress in making sure these connections don't control you like they did before. Once you have thoroughly released their hold on you, then you will be able to join the other acolytes in their training. It would do considerable good for you well-being if during the course of your training, you learned to control these connections."

He sat back down, indicating that what ever needed to be said, was already said. Karai stood up, bowed, and took her leave.

* * *

_(in the Ninja Tribunal hallways)_

Karai was beginning to understand why the Tribunal was putting her through all that meditation. With each passing day, she could feel those two's control over her slipping. It's never easy to discard a life that you always lived in, but with the help of the Tribunal, she'll be able to get rid of them within a half a week or week. Then there was there was the matter of her gaining control over them. That was impossible! There was no way in all those Turtle dimensions, that it was possible. They were beings of sheer power, ones that have practiced their power for a VERY LONG time. The only way she could gain control was to learn the skills that the Tribunal was teach her and pure, enormous willpower. So much willpower that she might now be able to pull it off. She pondered this as she wandered through the hallways of the Ninja Tribunal quarters.

She turned at a corner in the hallway and walked until she came to a door on the right wide open. She looked in and found it to be the huge room that Dick and Bruce were occupying. There was a bed on the opposite sides of the room. Bruce was sitting up in his bed with one leg up and one leg straight, with his left arm draped over his upright leg. Bruce was breathing heavily, and Dick himself looked winded. Apparently, Bruce was trying to get some rest after his training session, Karai thought bitterly. Dick, on the other hand, was sitting down next to his bed meditating. He was sitting cross-legged with his fingers back-to-back with each other. He had his costume on, but he left his domino mask on the floor. He was concentrating intensely, as evident by the light blue aura and fire markings that seemed like glowing patterns on his costume. Both of them didn't seem to notice that she was just casually leaning on the doorpost.

"You do know that you're making a whole lot of noise over there, eh Karai," asked Dick from his sitting position. Karai jumped.

"How did you...," she stammered.

"Sensei has been telling us to hone our ninjutsu senses in order to perfect them. And, frankly, I think he has a point. I was just trying to see if he also meant hearing when he talked about senses. I know you were trying to sneak by, but, dang, it was bloody murder on my ears. I think I might be bleeding." He cupped his ear with his right hand to emphasize his point. He already broke his concentration and was sitting with a pose similar to Bruce. "I mean, what's the purpose of having power if you can't control it?" He lowered his voice to a murmur and continued. "Man, if I can't get this down, I'm gonna ask Supes for some tips."

Karai didn't catch that last part. All she heard was the part about controlling power. It rang several times in her head, as if attempting to ingrain that little piece of information into her consciousness. Dick raised an eyebrow at her continued silence.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind. Sit down. Why don't you talk about it. It could help make things easier," Dick offered. Dick had Bruce's full attention now. He scooted over to his protege's side and beckoned her to sit. She sat down and began to tell her story.

"Obviously, you both know about my previous life as the Shredder, right?" She got two nods in response. "Tell me, what is it that you see in comparison to all who have named themselves the Shredder, besides their title?"

"From what I have noticed," began Dick, "they all have lots of connections with Japan. Also, two out of three of them had connections with a Japanese dynasty or empire. They also had a lot of uncanny success in their efforts. And the icing on top of the cake would be that they were all evil. From what I can recollect, I think that all there is to their similarities."

"Interesting observations, though I am curious as to how you know about the Utrom Shredder manipulating the Tokugowa dynasty. Unlike Bruce, Dick did blush as the praise, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "But you are right, that is all there is to there similarities. In this physical realm, to be more exact. There is more than meets the eye. I presume that you heard about our previous encounter with the Shredder? I wonder, Bruce. Did you find Hun to be quite tightlipped about the Tengu Shredder?" Surprise flashed across Bruce's features for a second, but he regained his composure, albeit a little late. The other two acolytes caught the momentary expression and took it as a yes. "Hehe, you always did have ways to intimidate people, Bruce. Although, locking him in a empty, yet smelling dumpster with his two annoying associates was a new one for you. It took twelve hours for him to crack, and all the while you were in your vehicle sipping 10 cups of coffee from a nearby shop. I donned a oxygen mask and investigated that dumpster. Apparently, he associated were annoying enough to give them considerable injuries, evident by the splotches on the inside of the dumpster. I wonder why Hun couldn't get out of there. Nonetheless, it was HILARIOUS!" she said as she and Dick shared a laugh at Bruce's expense. Bruce reverted back to his doom-and-gloom mode, but he also looked defeated.

"Anyway, back to the story. What Hun told you was only first half. You see, to help defeat the Shredder, we mobilized every major criminal organization in the city, including the Purple Dragons and the Foot. Agent Bishop's forces were also with us." Karai looked at Bruce, who looked at her back with a knowing expression. The two billionaires had been using their resources to stockpile a lot of blackmail and evidence against Bishop, and they were just waiting to unleash it. And from the expression on Dick's face, he had stopped some of the government agent's advances in Bludhaven. "All the eight acolytes and aides, the Ancient One, Bishop and his aide, Hun, and my technical specialist and I infiltrated the Shredder's throne room. What I'm about to tell you is why, like your protege said, Shredders have an uncanny amount of success in their efforts. Why the Acolytes and the others were fighting the Shredder, I was given the task of weakening him. You see, at that time, the only way to weaken him was to separate artifacts that made his power complete. There was his helmet, gauntlet, and body. Even with these three separated, his power might even have been too great, but we still don't know. But then, we discovered an additional route. All people who have taken on the name and mantle of the Shredder, share a psychic and energy link with the original demon Shredder. If I could tap into that link, I could take advantage and drain him. And that's what I attempted to do"

"But, as always, nothing goes according to plan. The Shredder separated us all into different places. From what I heard, the Acolytes, their aide, and the Ancient One got transported into a demonic forest with the Shredder himself. Bishop's forces, and my aide and I were left alone, and god know where he transported Hun. That guy's a pest." Dick had to agree with that sidecomment. So could Bruce. "I had successfully tapped into the Shredder's energy and started draining him. He took notice of this and came after me. But quick thinking and a quick diversion on the acolytes' part sent him away from me, where the acolytes finished the rest of the battle. Ever since that day, the energy link has remained open. Not open, but just slightly open," she said, emphasizing it by placing her index and thumb close together.

"The latest surge of the Shredder's energy damaged my resistance and control to that link and Kon Shisho has been helping all this time to cut my connection with the Shredder and not fall to his dark ways. That however, is taking some time, and I cannot go onto regular training with severing it, for fear that the training will intice me with notions of power. This meditation that I have been doing for the past week is helping me, but I see my progress as slow. It's not as easy as it looks. I intend to cast off the Shredder's hold on me within a week. Hopefully, then I can start training to control the Shredder's power, something I fear I'll never be able to accomplish."

Dick and Bruce had wwwwwiiiiiiiiddddddeeeee eyes. It was a cool story and all, but controlling THE Shredder's power? That sounded impossible. But then again, the lesson that the Tribunal was trying to ingrain in them was that there was more to this world then met the regular eye. Bruce snapped out of his stupor and looked at Karai with a question glance.

"About what you said before," he started, "what do you mean 'Utrom Shredder'".

Dick's head snapped so fast to Bruce that every Tribunal member watching winced.

"Kon Shisho wasn't teaching me to throw off the demon Shredder's reins only. This whole time, I've been also working to establish my father as Oroku Saki and not the Utrom Shredder. The man who picked me off the streets and taught me ninjutsu, is not the same man who murdered Hamato Yoshi or any other Guardians. My connection with him might make me fall for his deceits again. Then, there is a different matter. My father is/was the Shredder, too. With enough effort, he can also tap into the demon's power, and that makes him another dangerous enemy, too. But, that also brings up a new problem. His connection and my connection with the Shredder strengthens my connection with the Utrom, and as much as I don't want it, it makes it much harder to throw off his reins. So right now, I'm stuck in a three-way power triangle occupied with people that practically have a strong bond or connection with everyone else there."

There was a long silence at the crimefighting vigilantes summarized and contemplated the data.

"Things aren't looking good. It keeps getting worse and worse by the minute, and it looks like there is no stopping it," stated Dick.

"More than you think," Karai started. "The Shredder power keeps growing stronger by the minute, even though his energy is lying dormant. Someone has to be collecting power for him."

"What about those other eight acolytes?" Bruce asked. "Where do they fit into this?"

"Half of those acolytes lost their powers, and the other half still have theirs. But I don't think it would be such a trivial matter for the Tribunal to restore them. They have shown very great potential not seen for a long time, and I know with every fiber of my being that the Tribunal intends to use it."

"So we have 11 acolytes against two adversaries," said Dick, counting the statistics on his fingers. "A growing-more-powerful-by-the-second strong Shredder and time. Our first enemy is time, which we are pretty much losing to because we are not brushed up on the skills that the Tribunal is trying to teach us. If we win against time, we MAY be able to stop the Shredder from returning. But if we don't, we're going to be facing the tengu himself with only a couple skills up our sleeves. I say we up the ante and take the word 'serious' to a whole new level.

"I'm still concerned about what you said before. You said that the Shredder could summon demon minions to aid him in combat. According to what we know of the legend, he didn't use them against the Tribunal during their fight. If he summoned them before, he's sure to summon them against us. If the acolytes are going have their hands full against the Shredder, who's going to fight against the demon minions?" He paused to take a deep breath from his monologue.

Karai took the initiative. "Back when we first fought the Tengu Shredder, my technology expert designed and invents magitech weapons, weapons of science that can harm those of a different plane. Since these weapons did little or ordinary damage against human beings, it never made it to the black market. The entire operation was named Project Reborn. I still have the blueprints to the technology in my database, but I can't access it because we don't have a computer."

Bruce smirked. "But I know someone who can," he said as he pulled out his Justice League comm. But it turned into a frown real fast. "Unfortunately, I can't contact the Justice League because of the interference the Tribunal has put up around the monastery."

The Ancient One nodded to his fellow partners in crime as he gave the signal. The interference around the monastery was instantly lifted.

For some reason, their was a very strong voice whispering Bruce to try just ONE more time to make contact. "Maybe," he began, as he turned his comm on, "Batman to Justice League, do you read me?"

"Bruce, we've tried this a million times, it's not gonna..." Dick started, only to be stopped by a voice blaring through the comm.

"Batman, is that you?" exclaimed a very worried Superman. "Where are you and Nightwing?"

"Nightwing's with me. However, fortunately or unfortunately, depends on how you look at it, we can't tell you where we are. I have a question. Are you in Metropolis or in one of the towers?"

"Metropolis on patrol, why?"

"Patch me in with J'onn, and have him send you up to the Watchtower. I have some equipment up there I need you two to use."

"OK." Superman put his finger to his ear and added the martian and Terrific to the call. "J'onn, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Superman. What's the matter?" asked J'onn, working the controls to the orbitting satellite.

"Can you send me up J'onn. There's some equipment I need to use," he asked.

"Teleporting...now"

"Oh, and by the way," started Superman once he appeared on the teleportation deck of the satellite, "Bruce's on the line, too."

The martian stumbled for a bit before reaching into his comm.

"Batman, where are you?"

"I'm here J'onn. Listen, I need you and Superman to go to my lab in the Watchtower. The code is 228626," he paused in his instructions, hearing typing in the background. "Don't bother J'onn. It won't work. We don't want to be found."

The martian stopped at that and sighed. "You do know everyone's worrying about you?"

"Not necesary," replied Bruce bluntly. "Are you at the lab yet?"

"Give me a minute," both Superman and J'onn said simultaneously. J'onn phased through the floor, while Superman resorted to superspeed to get there at the same time as the martian. The Kryptonian typed in the key at lightning speed.

"OK, Bruce, we're in. Nice setup you have here," commented Kent.

"No time. Superman, hold your earpiece out to any of the screens. Just pick one." Clark took his comm out and pointed it at the screen on his right.

"Ready."

Bruce took out a gadget and put it to his comm. It emitted a series of intricate beeps and sounds to low for the human ear. Keyword human. Clark could hear it just fine, and he was stupidified.

"What was that," he asked the Caped Crusader.

"A code, what do you think. You should be in now. If you look closely, I have a specific program with the code '267865046' as a name (A/N: It's totally random). Click it," instructed Bruce from the sidelines.

Clark followed his commands to the letter with J'onn watching from behind him.

"Batman, this is a special program to hack Saki Industries," gasped J'onn.

"Exactly," smirked Bruce, as Karai gave him a betrayed look. "Now search the database for Project Reborn. It's encrypted heavily with Utrom security codes, and that's where your martian head comes in, J'onn. I need you to put your martian genius into security codes and hack them. If you have any Kryptonian knowledge that might help us out, please do, Superman."

"Utrom security codes," speculated J'onn. "That maybe a challenge for me. Just give me a second." The last martian worked his whiz, while Clark put in some hints that he saw being used in the computer mainframe of spaceship. They cracked the code in ten minutes. "OK, I'm in. Give it a minute to load. Apparently, it was booby trapped and your computer is still recovering from it."

"Figures," Bruce grumbled, while Karai smirked off to the side.

"Project Reborn was an endeavor by Saki Industries," J'onn started off, "to battle supernatural forces on a technological level. The project was made possible by stealing several artifacts worldwide containing mystical properties from museums and the tombs that they rested in." Bruce cast an annoyed glance at Karai, who just merely signed that she was a desperate crime lord. Like that explained everything. "By scanning the energies locked away dormant within the artifacts, they found that the energy signatures contained distant traces of energy found in common electronics. By combining rare minerals and creating advanced state-of-the-art devices, they fused the two ingredients and discovered that the new energy signatures held so much in common with the mystical artifacts that they could synchronize with these artifacts or even merge with them, but only if much much more effort was put in. But due to the rarity of these artifacts, they couldn't risk expending such a short supply. So they made a decision and decided to settle with the weapons in their current states. Since these new weapons weren't entirely magic nor technology, they made up a new term, magitech. Apparently, to prevent another disaster, they started to mass produce the ingredients to a point where they became common, but they weren't released into the public. As to what that disaster was...I can't go any farther, Batman. This information is too heavily encrypted."

"Don't worry, J'onn. I know why." Clark and J'onn cast a questioning glance at each other. "Despite the next paragraph being too heavily encrypted, you should be able to access the data and blueprints to that technology. Using that information, I need you to recreate the weapons, and apply them to every League member that you can. There something big coming up, and we can't afford to not be ready."

The two superheroes in the Watchtower once again cast each other looks, only this time they were serious. "But where do we find the ingredients, Batman," asked Superman. "We have the blueprints up and we just downloaded them into the Justice League mainframe. According to the data, we have enough of that tech up here in the tower, but I'm afraid the ingredients to the formula are out of our reach."

Karai held out her hand, asking Bruce to give her the comm. He complied. "This is Karai Saki." J'onn and Clark froze up at that info. "I'm here with Batman and his protege. We have no time to discuss why I'm here, but I have the security codes to access the facility which holds the stockpiled ingredients. Search the Saki Industries mainframe for the term 'Azure Advent'. You will approach another roadblock filled with security codes. To bypass them, put your comm to the speaker and let me do the work."

The two in space followed her instruction reluctantly, and put the comm to the speaker just like they did for Bruce. Karai's voice started coming through in Japanese. "Hi, kaze, tsuchi, mizu, kinzoku. Kai!" A beep on the screen alerted them that they had bypassed the firewalls. After she herself heard the beep, she gave the comm back to Bruce.

"Tell Alfred and the League not to worry," Bruce's voice blared through the comm. "Dick and I are fine. Tell Alfred to also abandon the search for the wooden samurai off. It will just give him a headache. Oh, and tell Doctor Fate, he's right about EVERYTHING." And with that, the comm went dead. The two aliens panicked.

"J'onn, search for any sign of Bruce's mind, NOW!" Not needing to be told twice, he initiated the mind sweep. Down below, the Ancient One gave the order to his fellow masters to put up the barrier once more. As J'onn zoomed in to Batman's signature, the dark hero's suddenly vanished off the map, just like the first time he tried to find him. He attempted another mind sweep coming up with the same result. He cut the search and turned to his fellow alien.

"I attempted to find him, but he and his protege are being mentally shielded by someone. All I could get were images of East Asia."

"East Asia?" Clark questioned. "What would Bruce Wayne as Batman be doing in East Asia with Nightwing and Karai Saki of all people?"

"Several facts and secrets have come to light...maybe too much. We need to discuss this with the other Founding Members further," the martian concluded.

"Agreed." Superman tapped the comm in his ear. "OK guys," he called out to the Founders, "new meeting." An audible and evident groan was heard by the recipients.

* * *

_(down in the Ninja Tribunal oratory)_

"D***, we did not put up the barrier fast enough," swore the Ancient One.

"We can only hope the martian did not learn too much," said Juto.

* * *

_(in Bruce's and Dick's quarters)_

"OK, any idea on why we could contact the Justice League just now," asked Dick, finally speaking.

"I suspect that the Tribunal released the barrier for a couple minutes to allow us to contact your comrades," theorized Karai.

"Hopefully, the Founders won't make a big mess out of my disappearance and go right on with the plan. But, somehow, I don't think that will happen," mused Bruce.

"Pretty much," confirmed Karai. "Now, speaking of skills, how did you training go? You still seem a bit winded."

"Well..." began Bruce.

* * *

**And that closed the chapter. I unintentionally stretched this chapter a bit to 7000+ words. As such, nothing in this chapter deserves the title "UNLEASH". I was looking forword to releasing the Ryukiba in the chapter, but word count just might double. Even I have trouble reading a chapter for a long time and keeping my focus. Unfortunately, I left a lot of cliffhangers, so please forgive me. As for Batman and Nightwing's weapons, I already got them and their names and some abilities down. Thx for the wolverine idea, Shado-Ookami, cuz I've incorporated it into one of the weapons. Photos for the weapons will be released**

**I've made some headway into Karai's and Leo's weapons, but not so much. Any ideas will be appreciated. I noticed that the Ryukiba share a lot of similarities with zanpakutos, and as such, I'm going to be incorporating some details into their weapons. The most prominent similarities between the Ryukiba and the zanpakutos are that they both have names and have "released" states, although the Ryukiba looked like they're always released. Do you want to know what the Ryukiba are? Remember what Juto and the Tengu Shredder called the weapons that were granted? That's right, "Fangs of the Dragons". Google Translate it. **

**Also, I've notice that fanfiction has tampered with the links that I've posted. So I'm going to give you info to fill in the blanks to the URLs. If it's a photo link, I use Flickr. If it's a video link, I use YouTube.**

**I plan on finishing this story at 150,000 words or more. There will be a sequel. Sometimes, I just want to skip this story and go to the sequel, but then you guys wouldn't understand what happened before it. I promise you, the sequel will be EPIC, and so will this story. I also plan on posting the prologue to my Naruto fanfic within 1 1/2 months, just as soon as Naruto's new powers are explained fully. I plan on posting soon, once I get enough time on the shared computer.**

**Read and Review.**


	11. Crease

**DISCLAIMER:** revoltninja DOES NOT own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, or Nightwing. Nickelodean and DC own them, respectively. Tite Kubo and Bleach own the ideas behind the Ryukiba.

**Heads Up:** I'm getting kind of tired of using the name "Ancient One" all the time, so I'm going to sometimes switch to the Japanese version, Kodai-sensei. "Kodai" means "ancient".

* * *

_(previously on "They Don't Stay Dead, Do They?")_

_"Pretty much," confirmed Karai. "Now, speaking of skills, how did you training go? You still seem a bit winded."_

_"Well..." began Bruce._

_(now, flashback mode, at the site of the bridge)_

* * *

"Now it's your turn," said the Ancient One to Gotham's avenger. The two immortals and Dick crossed the bridge over to Bruce's side, where the Ancient One began to reiterate Hisomi-shisho's instructions.

"After much...motivation and disrespect for authority," the short hermit began with not-so-subtle jabs at Dick, "your protege has managed to complete the task. Can you?"

The look of determination on Batman's face was all the answer that he needed.

"Remember, vision your chi as a flowing river, forever free. And while you do that, me, Hisomi-shisho (another grunt), and birdboy here will have some target practice," said the master of senses with a smirk. Unfortunately, Batman had blocked everything out at that moment so did not catch the smirk or the meaning of the word.

The soon-to-be dead man walked up the the first plank (A/N: no pirate jokes), and started focusing inward. The temporary fire tattoos starting sliding up his body and face as he initiated FCM. He started working on getting himself silent. After much focusing, a bead of sweat rolled down his face and he opened his glowing eyes. He took one step forward. The board creaked. Oh no. Last time that happened, a massive water dragon with tastes for joking acolytes (I think, and so does Mikey, Dick, and the Ancient One) rocketed out of the water below. Although, he noted, the board didn't creak as much as it did when Grayson was prancing around on it. Bruce waited for the oncoming doom. It came in the form of a shuriken that embedded itself in the wooden plank less the an inch from his big foot. Acting out of instinct, he immediately spun around to face whoever had the guts...I mean, whoever threw the shuriken.

It was just Dick. Actually, it wasn't just Dick. It was Dick with a shuriken in his hand. And it wasn't just Dick with a shuriken in his hand. It was the Ancient One, Hisomi-shisho (odd), and Dick with shurikens in their hands. And the icing on top of the cake would be that they had unbelievably evil smirks on their faces. Actually, the icing would be that they had a four foot pile of shurikens in between them. And it wasn't shrinking anytime soon. Bruce looked on in horror. Oh yeah, he had gotten himself into some DEEEP trouble.

"Since your protege has already faced the water dragon, I guess it's up to us to deliver the punishment if you keep making unwanted noise and don't hide yourself," the smirking midget said. Dick and Hisomi nodded with matching expressions. "And for added effect, I'll give little birdboy here this." He took out a blindfold and wrapped it around Dick's eyes. Bruce started backing up fearfully. Dick's expression turned into a full blown wicked smirk. Ohhh, he was going to enjoy this. "We'll try to be nice."

The shurikens started flying as the boards started creaking as Bruce started running. Dang it, he was going to have to get some peaceful, alone time if he was going to escape from this alive. He winced as a shuriken flew past him and cut him a little on the arm.

'Wait, what did the Kodai-sensei (A/N: It's Japanese for "Ancient") say earlier? If you keep making unwanted noise and don't hide yourself. I can do that with a little assistance from Dick's playbook,' he planned mentally. Suddenly, the torrent of shuriken lessened significantly. Bruce chose this moment to go with his plan. He turned around and...

Dick was having the time of his life. He so wanted to get Bruce back for all those training sessions. Seriously, locking him in a room with a soon-to-explode time bomb. That's just sadistic. But he had one problem. He didn't know where the heck he was throwing. That blindfold that Kodai-sensei wrapped around his eyes also wrapped partially around his ears. There went his training with Bruce. The only sense he had control of right now was his touch, which he was using with the shuriken. But as for perception and tracking, he was shot down as far as his other senses. He could not hear or see. His limited sense of smell was useless, even more so by the wind. And don't even get me started on his sense of taste. All he knew was that he was throwing whenever he heard a creak. That's all the blindfold would allow him. No perception or tracking. Unless. Maybe if he focused inward and sight-sensed for Bruce's chi, he could finally be sure he wasn't accidentally hitting some fish down below.

On the outside, Dick suddenly stopped throwing and dropping his shuriken. Hisomi-shisho and Kodai-sensei looked at him oddly. The midget master took one look at him and then gave Hisomi-shisho a smirking nod. The towering ninja understood. Dick was taking this to a new level.

Dick concentrated heavily and activated FCM. Channeling chi to his eyes just like he did in training before, he tried to look around, feel for Bruce's chi. But, for some reason, that stupid blindfold was preventing him. If he can't see, maybe he should try hearing. He channeled his chi to his ears and tried echo-locating Bruce's position. All of a sudden, his ears were assaulted by a torrent of sounds. Everything within 100 yards of him that gave off a whisper became a shriek to Dick. The river down below was especially painful. He fell to his knees and blood started dripping now the side of his face.

Back to Batman. As he felt the barrage of shuriken lessen, he spun around, only to find his protege on the ground writhing in pain and bleeding. He was clutching his ears, while the Ancient One was at his side. With a sense of panic, he decided to forgo his plan and sprung to Dick, only to be stopped by another shuriken. Hisomi-shisho. Again. If he couldn't get to Dick, which he assumed the Ninjutsu Master of Stealth wouldn't let him, he would have to resume his plan. With a great leap, he jumped over the bridge and latched onto the underside. There, he started focusing, envisioning and trying to feel like a flowing river, free.

Dick was on his knees, bleeding from his ears. The sounds that assaulted him were too much, and now Kodai-sensei was at his side in a second, trying to help him. The Ancient One pull a wipe out and started wiping off the blood, while he put his hand to Dick's head and try to heal and redirect the chi. His eyes turned red and started to glow. After a couple seconds, Dick's screaming died down, the blood flowing down his face stemmed, and the headache he got was dying down. He glanced up at the Ancient One in gratitude.

"Arigato," he breathed in relief.

"Don't try to sit up. Rest. You are exhausted. We will take it from here," advised the master of senses.

"OK, if you say so. Hisomi-shisho," he said with labored breaths while handing something to the speedy ninja, "take this and use it on Bruce as incentive if he's still not getting the point. It's a close-ranged weapon. So press the button and make sure this device is near him." The silent master nodded as Dick sat down against a rock.

Meanwhile, latching on the bottom of the bridge was Bruce. He was concentrating like he did at the beginning of the exercise. Only this time, he was trying to refine it and feel free. It wasn't easy as it sounded. Batman was born on the night his parents died. Bruce Wayne was confined in a cage by Batman. The ironic thing is, Batman himself was in a cage. A cage created by sadness and sorrow. A cage fueled by his fears. The cage represented the strict lines that he couldn't cross, because of emotional fear that would threaten to break him. He freed Bruce Wayne when he was a parties, only for the purpose of keeping up his image. When he freed Bruce Wayne, he freed the cage around himself. He was feeling free. And that's what he maybe should do.

He began to recount happy memories. The days of the Gray Ghost, the day he adopted Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, his parents. It was starting to come back to him with each memory. He began to feel like the kid that was locked up decades ago and freed only a couple times. A smile came to his face. He felt free. It was refreshing. A life abandoned, suddenly brought back to him.

He flipped back up topside and began running to the other side of the bridge. With the third and fourth step, he was starting to be aware of the fact that the boards were still creaking, only much less than before. He was succeeding. However, there were still some parts of Bruce Wayne that he was rejecting, and it was weighing down on him. A blur flashed past him, and a second later, he heard a beeping a his feet. He looked down to see the object of his destruction. One of Dick bombs. If he didn't know better, he'd say the boy was trying to kill him. Acting out of instinct again, he turned back and ran as fast as he could. That bridge was not going to hold.

He dove over the edge of the bridge again as the bomb went off. The shockwave washed over him, but Bruce was still on edge. The bridge started catching fire, and he needed to get to the other end before the fire consumed him. He starting hearing a series of snaps, to which he turned to. The very ropes that held up the bridge were being burned! He had to get out of here fast. He flipped topside and started running towards...where were his proteges and senseis?

Something was horribly wrong, and even more so as the bridge finally gave and snapped. He grabbed onto the rope as it was falling and hoped that the supports at the base of the bridge were secure enough. He started climbing up, but noticed that he was making no progress. He looked up for an explanation, but then he saw his hands were slipping. How was this possible? The rope slowly started becoming saturated with oil until it was nothing but that.

'This isn't possible,' his scientific mind told him. 'There was no way this could be happening.' There was another voice that was telling him something else, but he ignored it for the sake of his life's preservation.

His hands and body were slowly descending along the rope when his grip finally surrendered. His right hand went to the grappling hook on his belt, but to his immense surprise, his belt was nowhere to be found! He fell in the river below and body-slammed a flat rock. Pain blared through his system.

Something was definite wrong. Why was he alive? Why couldn't he feel or smell fire? Why wasn't the bridge splitting into two? Why was he still hanging on to the bridge like nothing happened?

'Because nothing did happen,' he realized. It was all an illusion or a hallucination, something to catch him offguard. And it worked. He was visibly unnerved and taking labored breaths.

When the smoke cleared, he saw that the bridge was perfectly unmarred, except for the recurring signs of old age. Even if it was an illusion, how was the bridge still standing? Bruce was tempted to palm himself if he didn't remind himself of the fact that he was hundreds of feet above raging rapids. Right, chi re-enforcement.

"You are doing well in terms of making yourself feel free," said a squeaky voice right above him. Kodai-sensei had mysteriously snuck over and was now standing directly on the plank Bruce was latching himself to. "But remember, the exercise is to be unheard AND unseen. You can't complete this lesson if you don't grasp those to concepts."

Bruce nodded and tried to focus once more. Letting the majority of Bruce Wayne out wasn't good enough. He had to free him. That part that he still left caged was weighing him down. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to feel life again, only this time completely. To let himself enjoy life and smile. His glowing eyes once again snapped open, filled with more confidence before and a smile on his face. He flipped topside again, and looked to one end of the bridge to check on Dick. He was resting against a rock with a smile on his face. He would have to get back at the boy.

He turned around and listened for any sign that signified him treading loudly. Satisfied with the silence of his footsteps, he continued focusing as he walked to the other side. A shuriken wizzed by his neck, thankfully not cutting anything, but reminding him of the fact that he had to remain unseen. He started running, hoping to somehow achieve the level of speed his protege had mustered. He had trained his speed for years and years on end, even reaching Olympic level. He had to get this or Dick would never let him live this down. He kept running, aware of the shurikens constantly reminding him. One shuriken made a shallow cut in his thigh, and another cut into his palm considerably. His agility might also be on Olympic level, but this was the Ninjutsu Master of Senses that they were talking about. He wouldn't miss. He doesn't miss.

He finally reached the other end and collapsed with a defeated sigh. He felt a little light-headed. Guess that came with using the power. This didn't work out the way he planned. He tried to envision the free, flowing river. But all he could imagine was a leaky faucet, so to speak. Dick was a free spirit; he had experience in cutting loose. Bruce lived a life of solitude. Being figuratively alone his whole life practically made him a being not much different from a jailbird.

'Maybe I should take up Dick's advice and get out more,' he thought with a sour expression.

"You have failed," said the Ancient One walking up to him, stating the obvious. Hisomi-shisho sped over with Dick slung over his shoulder. "But then again, you haven't failed completely. You've managed to grab hold of the first concept of ninjutsu stealth. Like the first concept, the second one comes with effort, something I know you can do."

Bruce nodded and stood up. As the three (Dick was on Hisomi-shisho's shoulder) walked back to HQ, the Dark Knight clenched his fists. He failed. Just like all those other times. He began to fall once again into the reminiscing stage. The memories of his failures. Dick, his parents, and many more. He began to regress into Batman. He couldn't bring Bruce Wayne out anymore, even if it meant sealing off his speed. It would bring back unwanted memories.

* * *

_(back to Karai, Dick, and Bruce in the Ninja Tribunal quarters)_

"Yeah, so that why Bruce feels like roadkill right now," Dick said as Bruce finished the story.

His mentor shot him a withering glare. "At least I wasn't taken down by soft noises and whispers," retorted Bruce.

"Before we start getting into another fight, know that I pretty much have Supes on my side with this one," shot back Dick. "The big guy has to have some hearing problems or weaknesses if he has super-hearing."

"Thank you," spoke up Karai after a long silence. "This has been an enlightening experience for me. I hope in the near future our paths will meet again, maybe in a merger?"

Dick and Bruce looked at each other comically, and then back at Karai.

"Your kidding, right" asked Dick. "You do know it will take millions upon millions of bucks and hundreds of strings manipulated or cut just for the two companies to attempt a merger without rumors popping up, right? I mean, I lived with Bruce for how long and it still sounds like a ton of money."

"I know, but Saki Industries has truly gone legit and has cut all ties with the Purple Dragons. If there is an investigation, we will come up clean, especially with your support. I'll allow Wayne Industries to inspect our mainframe and technology. However, I can only allow you and your protege to inspect my facilities, mainly because I've heard your reputation as being unbiased."

"Isn't that a fact," muttered Dick, dejectedly.

Ignoring him, she went on. "It'll be better if you go as you costumed alter ego. I'll arrange for security at the facilities to be low on the night you break in and inspect."

"No need," said Bruce, "I enjoy a challenge every once in a while. But what makes you think I'll break in." He blatantly ignored Dick's disbelief at him actually enjoying something.

"We beened summoned by ninjas who believe in our skills as stealthy warriors," Karai deadpanned. Dick had to agree with her logic as he snickered at Bruce. "I must take my leave immediately. I have a training session with Kon-shisho within the next hour. I must prepare," she said getting up and taking her leave. "Sayonara, Batman, Nightwing."

The two vigilantes just sat there not saying anything for a minute. Then Dick broke the silence.

"So, you finally going to ask that question," he said, cryptically. His voice sounded a lot more mature than it had been the past couple days.

"How? Why?" Bruce asked.

"It's something about this place. Something brought back my past self. This place...it's carrying a rejuvenating air to it, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally, too," the former Boy Wonder explained. "That scene back with Karai when I practically cried over my fried notepad, which I still haven't forgiven you for...that's not something I would have done."

"You've been acting like a hyper Tim every day you've been here," the Dark Knight added, as he and Dick visibly shivered. That was the worst fate someone could ever suffer.

Dick picked up a wet towel and rubbed his face again, trying to wipe away any signs of blood. Finding the results satisfactory, he threw it into a corner and climbed back in bed.

"It's going to be a long day tomorrow. You better get back in bed, get some rest, and let those wounds heal," Dick advised with a smirk. Bruce hated being talked to like a little kid, and Dick knew that. The only reason Bruce tolerates Alfred when he does it sometimes is that the elderly man is practically his foster dad.

The elder man grunted in annoyance and turned his cot. The journey to the comfort and relaxation was cut short when Bruce's and Dick's trained senses caught something spinning. They turned to the source to find a shuriken impacting the floor with a thud right behind Bruce. They glanced toward the origin of the projectile, that being the door. It was empty, and there was a note attached by string to the hole in the shuriken.

Bruce cut the string with a lone batarang and opened up the letter and read the Japanese letter aloud. As Bruce read on, he both drew on a mask of horror waiting for the ultimate doom to come, while Dick laughed his butt off.

* * *

_(the next morning)_

The room that Dick and Bruce occupied held some amazing diversity. Exactly one half of the room of full of free air, laughter, mirth, amusement (majority), glee, and all that non-sense enjoyment crap. The other half, was not surprisingly damp, gloomy, bleak, cheerless, and most of all, downcast. Of course, that half of the room were Dick was obviously and way-too-much enjoying the fact that Bruce was utterly humiliated was the light side of the room. And the gloomy Dark side of the Force...I mean the room, obviously held Bruce...plus his mood, ego, and surprisingly, body odor. But ooh, how that was going to change (the mood and the body odor...hopefully)!

As Dick yawned and took the phrase "Rise and Shine" too seriously, Bruce woke up the same as always-with a grunt. It was the same drill after the got some sleep after their crimefighting nights. Throw the blankets aside and head for the bathroom. Rock, paper, scissors said that Bruce gets the bathroom first. Dick shrugged and decided to not let it dampen his bright day. 15 minutes into Bruce's time and the Dick was tapping his foot impatiently.

Kon Shisho strode in with the Ancient One at his heels. One look around the room told the short man everything.

"He's taking too long in the bathroom, isn't he," he deadpanned. He only got an irritated sigh in return.

"Don't take much pleasure in Batman's condition, young Grayson," Kon told the former Boy Wonder. "You will be joining him, too." The look of horror on Dick's face basically got the message to Kon that he committed a crime so heinous that the Shredder would be horrified. The poor boy fainted. And guess who gets to join in on the fun?

Bruce unlocked the door and came out of the bathroom, only to see the horrified expression glued onto the kid's unconscious face. He cast a questioning glance at the two masters, but only got a simple response.

"He's joining you today," the Ancient One said bluntly. Thump. Down went another vigilante.

* * *

_(in the middle of a road in the monastery, i.e. Kon's training place)_

Kon shisho walked briskly to his personal training grounds in the middle of the road, while his two acolytes trudged behind him reluctantly. Karai was already there, meditating. She opened her eyes when she heard to lousy footsteps coming close.

"Fancy seeing you here," the female billionaire commented. She only got irritated grunts in return.

"Sit down. We have much to discuss," Kon ordered. The three actually sat in a triangular position. "Perhaps you two are questioning why you are here," he gestured toward the Dynamic Duo.

A 'get on with it' look from Dick gave him his answer.

"In this world, we are all connected. In some way, shape or form, we are all alike. However, you three hold remarking similarities between each other. Each of you was orphaned as a child. Each of you made the sound decision to practice ninjutsu and other martial arts, effectively making you ninjas and changing your destinies. You, Batman, strove to become stronger to take vengeance on the guilty. You, Nightwing, wished to become stronger to protect those close to you. You, Karai, trained your body in the ways of ninjutsu for your father. These are all honorable purposes. Imagine yourself, is it conceivable that you would end up here today if it were not for your ordeals as children?"

The three cast calculating glances at each other, then at themselves. Maybe it was not so farfetched.

"However, there is more. These ordeals did not merely change your destinies. They changed everything. Your entire lives, those surrounding you, but especially, the way you view this world," the master said, putting a hand over his heart. "Everybody views this world differently. For one man, a simple tree is a symbol of tranquility, and for another it's a sign of stubbornness. When a man views a battlefield, it may incite his personal flames of revenge, while another may see this as a sign to learn from mistakes and forgive. As you people say it, 'where one sees opportunity, another sees hardship.' That is where you three come to a challenge.

"This abandonment at a young age changed you inside. For instance, you, Batman, came alive when your family was killed. Look at the children surrounding you. You used to be one of them. But, now, you are Batman. You control Bruce Wayne. And that is a hindrance.

"You three have lives and personalities that were abandoned. In this way, you now control them. Karai, your heart is always torn between helping your father or doing the right thing. Batman, the hurt from your parents' deaths manifested into you. This is the same with you, too, Nightwing. Both of you blame yourselves for their deaths. You have trained for years to get rid of that hurt, but you won't. Remember your first lesson-nothing is impossible.

"I'm not requesting you to relieve yourself of the blame and conquer the hurt, but actually the opposite. These personalities that you three possess are an addition and part of your power. They have always been YOUR power. But you have not been able to use them to their fullest potential. You, for example," he pointed at Bruce, "draw upon your Batman personality for power. But, remember, you can also you the Bruce Wayne inside of you for strength. If you destroy one, you'll destroy a part of your power. This is unacceptable.

"To use your power to its fullest potential, you must balance the two. Use the hurt and blame! Feed on it! Use it as a source of power! However, you must not let it consume you. That is one of the most important lessons you will learn. Batman must not control Bruce Wayne, and Bruce Wayne must not control Batman. That is the key to your power! Balance to two, and draw upon them both!"

During his speech, his silver eyes were glowing very brightly, and him floating cross-legged two feet off the ground put even more importance and emphasis on his words. They sat as they were before, unmoving, contemplating the full meaning of their shisho's words and advice. Kon noticed a less-than-noticeable twitch on Bruce's lips.

"Speak."

"Shisho, you kept using me as an example. Why?"

"You have have all trained your body and mind extensively, enabling you to be a reckoning force on the battlefield. But, among us all, your spirit is damaged the most. To fight the oncoming evil and succeed, you must harness all three effectively. You saw back then during Hisomi-shisho's lesson (the giant shisho, taking a 'jog', grunted instinctively. He wondered why). Because your spirit was damaged you could not harness it and pass his lesson."

Bruce thought back grimly as the other two acolytes looked on him in concern.

"Shisho? How?" the former Boy Wonder asked.

Kon smiled. Now this is how things should be going. Hopefully there aren't going to be any more interruptions.

* * *

_(flashback to Fate's tower, Fate vs. unknown)_

"You will do NOTHING!"

"Who dares to impose on my fortress," Fate snarled, turning around. What he saw made his eyebrows raise considerably. There in front of him was a floating silver-haired man with silver eyes and clad in armored cloths. The man's silver hair was flaying wildly behind. "Kon of the Ninja Tribunal, it's an honor."

"It seems Nabu has told you of who I am. We've met before Doctor Fate, but not you, Kent Nelson. It's an honor for me, too," Kon introduced himself.

"It appears that the demon is making a return," Fate attempted to start a conversation.

"That much is true, but this is not the same as before. An unknown factor has made an appearance into this silly and deadly game, and the demon's potential to gather even more power is not something to disregard."

"Is that why you have taken in specifically Batman and Nightwing, when there are 9 others capable of the same task?" he asked pointedly.

Kon's eyes narrowed. "If you must know, the ninth one is also with us." The resident magician's eyes mimicked his counterpart's. "But it is not in your position to know or attempt to find out, Fate."

Fate levitated two artifacts from a table next to him. "I cannot just place Batman's, Nightwing's, and the entire world's safety in the hands of the Ninja Tribunal, Kon. You must tell me where they are. You will tell me where they are."

Kon himself levitated two more artifacts to his hands. "You and I both know that both of us can use the impressive artifacts to their fullest potential, Fate. But, I doubt that we both can clash and depart from the battle without sustaining considerable damage. That is something we cannot have delaying us. The acolytes must not have a reason to deter from their training."

"Just because you take them in, does not make them among the acolytes of the Ninja Tribunal," Fate hissed. "They have a choice."

"No they don't," Kon voiced echoed in the crowded room. "We have been guarding against the resurrection of the tengu for more than a millenia, and we will continue in that task, no matter what the cost."

"Even if they die? You forget who is the foe. This is the demon Shredder! This is a demon I've tried to prepare against, too!"

"We know, Fate! We have known for 17 hundred years. The acolytes will be of no help against the tengu if they die. Like I said before, we have been guarding against this resurrection for a long time. If guarding against the tengu's resurrection means protecting the acolytes, than so be it."

Fate grabbed one of the artifacts levitating in his hand and used it to cut his thumb. Blood oozed out and dripped down his finger. After being satisfied with the amount, he healed the cut. Gathering the blood, he levitated it between them, where a yellow aura enveloped it.

Kon's eyebrows rose in shock and a tinge of fear. Fate did not just do that! After regaining his composure (what was left of it) and resigning to himself, he summoned one of his katana and sliced his own thumb. Like before, the blood dripped down and then floated itself between them, this time forming a silver aura. The two blood samples stood beside each other and did not join.

"In this pact, I trust you with the safety and training of the three acolytes, Batman, Nightwing, and the one unknown. I trust you to allow the three acolytes to communicate their findings to the League."

"In this pact, I trust you not to disrupt the acolytes of the Ninja Tribunal and to aid in the fight against the tengu Shredder, Oroku Saki."

"In return, you must assist me by giving us the resources and information we need to defeat the demon."

"In return, we shall return the acolytes to their homes once the tengu is defeated."

They slammed their palms together and channeled their energies. The mumbled a few choice words.

"Seal/Fuin!"

The blood samples spun around each other, bordering each other but not mixing; it spun in a makeshift yin-yang manner. After a few seconds, the only thing left behind was the slowly disappearing kanji for "seal".

"The pact is sealed," they both said finally. A short labored breath was heard from both of them. Apparently, it took a bit out of them.

"As stated by the agreement, we shall provide you with the information and resources necessary," Kon said. He materialized an upgraded amulet right in Fate's hands. "Take this with my blessing and study it. This amulet was created by us for the specific purpose of defeating the tengu. We assign each acolyte an amulet. However, this amulet can be very powerful and destructive if used in an incorrect manner. Do not give this to anyone, especially the League. You may use it to further your devices, weapons, and defenses against the tengu. Do not inform anyone of this meeting. This includes you, too, Inza."

Doctor Fate's wife walked calmly out of the shadows and acknowledged their presence. Her guard was up and she secretly readied a technique up her sleeve just in case.

"Do not bother, Inza. He's not here to fight," Fate assured.

"If you must tell the League, inform them that we have met," Kon instructed. "Do not tell them anything else. If they or specifically Hawkgirl press for answers, do not worry, everything has been arranged and foreseen."

Fate nodded. "Nabu and I have been delving far deeper into the energy signature of the demon than anyone before us. We believe that an important discovery is close at hand. How may we contact you in case?"

"Activate the amulet and speak my name into it. I will be notified. I believe this is the end of our discussion. Farewell, Fate."

Bright blue-silver chi started swirling against the master's floating figure until it formed a protective ball around him. The chi faded, as well as Kon.

Fate sighed to himself and lowered his feet to the floor. His wife walked up to him worriedly.

"What are we going to do," she asked.

Fate brought the amulet up to his face and inspected the shine the flashed across it when he put it at an angle. The designs on it were impressive. But if this thing was as deadly as Kon said it was, there would be more on the inside. He sent an energy pulse through it, intending to find out what the hell this thing was made of and what it was. His eyes widened in surprise. There was only one word to describe the object lying in his hands.

This was a masterpiece! From the looks of it, it took Kon and the Ninja Tribunal a very long time to create such artifact. Maybe even decades. If it took them decades, it wouldn't take that much more for Fate. But there isn't enough time to do that. There was something inside this little object that made it impossible for him to clone the artifact. It was like the Tribunal imprinted their own special signature in it so nobody could try to grab a piece of that power and claim it as their own. Especially the Shredder.

But there was more to it. This wasn't any ordinary artifact or amulet. Ordinary mystical items were like safes. They usually imprisoned a spirit or some special kind of power and "awarded" that power to the person/demon/animal/whoever that discovered it. This was entirely different. Fate sensed no hidden presence or energy signature in there. This amulet isn't a storehouse for any special power! It is a KEY!

* * *

_**(OMAKE)**_ _(this did not happen)_

Fate was examining the artifact like a little toy. He flipped it around many times, looking at the details and for any hidden inscription. The amulet was suddenly snatched out of his hands by his wife. He looked up to see her about to put it around her neck.

"NOOO! DON'T!" Needless to say, his calls of warning were not heeded. The amulet slipped on like a necklace, and surprisingly without any consequences.

"So, does it look good on me?" the female magician asked her husband, inquiring of his opinion.

Fate face-palmed himself, and recoiled when his hand hit his pointed helmet. His wife was not pleased. "GIVE ME THAT AMULET!" he screamed as he lunged for the artifact like a little boy. His hands latched onto the amulet, while his wife pulled back by the string.

"GIMME IT!" she screamed like a little girl. The tussle went back and forth, all while being watched by the old guys, excuse, the honorable masters of the Ninja Tribunal. Fate really shouldn't have forgotten to put his shields up. The Yinwu Arm of Strength (completely my own imagination. Not my fault if it actually turns out to be real) would've been enough to block them out. But here they were, looking at and viewing the pair's tussle with rather amused faces.

In a rather comical way, the amulet was being pulled left and right by the two grown-ups acting like children. For some strange reason, you see that more often than not nowadays. Fate manifested his superstrength and pulled as hard as he could on the amulet. But Inza wasn't dumb either. Her husband taught her that same superstrength technique. Some masters began developing a rather strange fearful twitch at the corner of their mouths.

SNAP!

And the string of everlasting endurance, invulnerability, and durability broke like a twig. Every master sitting in his/her seat in the oratory jumped up in surprise and immediately went stark pale. They stared fearfully at the water TV as if they had seen a ghost (which, mind you, they've seen enough to satisfy Freddy Kruger).

"That wasn't supposed to break," Chikara rasped out. She was the only master to find enough strength (hint, hint) to speak.

* * *

**I have returned! With news. Both good and bad. Skip to the paragraph after this next one if you want to hear the good news first.**

**What happens when you have two computers being split up between more than four roommates? And each one of them is itching to get their hands on one? Exactly. I've been trying to squeeze as much time as I could into writing the story in the past couple weeks. I might not be able to update as often as I used too, but I certainly will try. Unfortunately, I'm showing some symptoms of a fatal disease commonly known among us as writer's blok. I'm sorry, but I'm not able to award you with a couple more thousand words for your patience. Another disease I'm coming up with I'm-getting-a-little-depressed-because-of-no-reviews-ititus. Unfortunately, the only way to cure that particular sickness is well...**

**Now for the good news. I don't think I have any. Just kidding. As I said a million times before (okay, maybe not a million, but close enough...maybe), I'm not giving up on the story. I've read so many stories on so many different good shows, and they contained surprisingly good material. I sometimes find it hard to find a decently long story that doesn't look like the Joker finally got some psychic powers (god save us all) and manipulated the writer. I have pretty solid idea of where this story is going to go. If you want a spoiler as to the end, highlight the space below:**

**The Shredder will not die.**

**Now, I'm kind of in a spot here and I need some help. If you want spoilers about the next chapter or two, read on. As you well know, the acolytes are training with Kon-shisho now, and it's only a matter of time before they find out who their avatar is.**

**As for Batman, I'm stuck between a bat and a dragon. A simple bat seems a little, how do I say it, "degrading" for him. And while that, a pure dragon seems too powerful for him. So, I'm thinking, maybe a dragon with significant bat features, sort of a bat-dragon. Not to big, not to small...Leo/Dragon's size. It has been shown that Batman has a great amount of power on the inside, both willpower and psychic power. He was able to resist Dr. Destiny's mental power to put people to sleep and then keep them (quite)permanently in a hallucination state, while Superman and many other people fell for it. And, mind you, Batman hadn't slept for three nights in a row and was running on pure coffee. On a side note, I purposely had Bruce fail the speed test for a reason. It's not his human speed that made me fail him. Bruce is known to be as fast as Olympic athletes. But it was his grouchiness. Every person who succeeded at the speed technique has at least some sense of humor. Even Hisomi-shisho smiled when Mikey was racing him toe-to-toe. That's why Bruce is seeing a psychiatrist, aka Kon-shisho, to heal some scars on the inside and maybe enable him to run like the chicken who crossed the road (did he make it?). Me? I just have a cruel sense of humor. I'm going to have some vigilantes on my tail if I keep this up. Well, everything has its perks and sacrifices.**

**Now, onto Nightwing's avatar. For those believe in giving everyone Mary Sue powers and leaving Shredder in the dust, no, Nightwing will not possess a dragon. I got a suggestion from Shado-Ookami a couple chapters ago to give one of the two acolytes a panther. Personally, I thought it was a good idea for both of them, but I've already decided on the bat and dragon for Batman. So here on my picks for Nightwing's avatar. A black panther or a phoenix. Not just any phoenix. A blue phoenix. To match the symbol on his chest. Now, I have my gripes about both of them. The black panther syncs with Nightwing, to a degree. A black panther is serious, all about hunting its food. It doesn't have the sense of hilarity and seriousness that Dick has. Now if the black panther had a blue scar or something, than that would definitely work out. Maybe a blue scar across its body or a noticeable one over its eye (like Kakashi, Kenpachi, and every other anime character out there).**

**Next is the blue phoenix. I put up a search on Google a couple years ago and found a blue phoenix. Needless to say, it was cool. That image came to mind when I scanned Nightwing's trait and habits for a suitable avatar. My first idea was that instead of shooting blasts of chi from the mouth like the dragons do, the blue phoenix would have the power to release fire and ice (hence the blue phoenix) from its mouth. But, than, I decided it would be Mary Sue-ish, since it would give him an advantage over the dragons, something that cannot happen. Dragons are on the highest plane, remember? Besides, I also had the same concept for his weapon, so creating two things with the same powers doesn't leave room for creativity. So, I decided to take away some powers (I hear a "no fair" somewhere) and leave it at this: The blue phoenix is semi-gaseous, semi-solid entity shrouded in blue fire, very similar to the flames of Gunshin. If it gets hit at close range, the opponent will get burned by the blue flames. If hit at mid-range, the flames will singe and slightly burn the opponent. If hit at long-range (which many acolytes have), opponent doesn't suffer damage, but the semi-gaseous form helps lessen the damage a little bit. Since the blue fire is available in the full transformed state, it is as hot or a little hotter than the flames of the ordinary Gunshin. I hope I didn't make it Mary Sue-ish.**

**Above are every single one of my plans for the acolyte's avatars. As you see, I've put a lot more thinking into the phoenix. When I was writing the info about the black panther with the blue scar down, I was excited. For a moment there, I was leaning towards it. But then I realized it would symbolize lightning, which I have plans for. Besides, the phoenix form has more depth to it. Which animal/entity do you think should be Nightwing's avatar?**

**As for Batman, I'm leaning towards the fusion of both a bat and a dragon...like I said before, a bat-dragon. It would seem more appropriate for him instead of the two separate. Do you think it should be Batman's avatar?**

**I'm open for suggestions on Karai's avatar. Maybe a songbird. Falcon?**

**Totally off the topic, but I've been considering which moments in TMNT 2k3 are the most epic. My roommate thinks it's the first time the Turtles went dragon. I personally think it was the Ninja Tribunal's last stand against the Shredder's heralds in _Beginning of the End_. For some reason, Kon shouting "JOIN YOUR MASTER" just keeps ringing in my head. What do you think is the most epic moment ever?**

**Like I said before, I'm suffering from I'm-getting-a-little-depressed-because-of-no-reviews-ititus. Personally, I think you guys are missing on some well-deserved Turtle-y Fun. Don't worry, they'll be coming soon.**

**Until next time (hopefully soon), ja ne.**

**revoltninja**

**p.s. By the way, there is another crossover fanfic between Batman and TMNT that I found. I forgot its name, but its a Mikey vs. Joker prankster battle, and its utterly hilarious. A must read. For those of you thinking like I'm trying to promote my own story, I didn't write it.**


	12. Moving In

DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Nickelodeon does. I'm not going to even mention the Batman disclaimer, cuz you know what? This is the purely Turtle filler arc! After the reviews I got, you guys deserve it! Set between Chapter One and the Turtle's summoning by the Tribunal two weeks later. Expect this arc to be full of laughs.

* * *

_(in the new lair, right after second scene in Chapter 1)_

How Donny did it, no one knew. Rearranging the lair with those crystals and pulling the secret power battery out of the ceiling? And Donny was determined to try and keep that little tiny secret hidden from the rest of his brothers...and father. Even teenage mutant ninja turtles have a limit on their patience, and right now, Donny's calculations said there was a 92.2580342% chance that his limits passed Leo and Splinter. Even someone with Mikey's...um, limited...intelligence had to say that was pretty dang high. He had a very nagging suspicion that they were doing this on purpose to make him break. The tech genius dropped the box he was carrying into the lair and stretched his limbs for a moment.

"MIKEY!" roared Raph. The red-banded turtle grabbed his fleeing brother's leg and with a mighty huff, tossed him in the opposite direction. Right into Donny. More veins started popping. The number 93 was ringing in Donny's mind all of a sudden.

"WILL YOU GUYS JUST STOP IT!" he yelled, his voice echoing loudly throughout the lair. All heads snapped towards him. He was quite unnerved by all the stares his master and brothers were giving him.

"Whaaaattttt," Mikey whined innocently. Donny never before felt the urge sock him. Donny did a mental check and decided to forgo the horrendous thought. Usage of the fist for anger only leads to the dark side, and they had already lost Raph to that terrifying abomination. Maybe he should use his bo and feet, instead.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS ANNOYING ME?" he shouted, albeit quieter this time.

"We are not going to stop until you tell us this technique you utilized to descend those crystals," Splinter declared. The others nodded their heads.

"You guys are so immature! What do I have to do, invent a MM?"

"MM?"

"Maturity Meter! You guys are all acting like a bunch of kids! You, you," he began pointing each of his family, "you, and yooooooouuuuuuuuu-woah...ouch. Sorry, Master Splinter."

"It is OK, Donatello," he said with a false warm, fatherly smile on his face as he patted his son on the shoulder with his walking stick and not his hand. "No worries, you have 30 minutes extra in the dojo today. And I'm taking your staff for two days. And you do not go over to the streets for one week. And you make my tea. Unless," he let subtle hint hang. Each of the brothers winced as he counted off the punishments. Donny's olive green face lost color and sported a tremendous pale green.

The dam broke. "Fine, fine, fine, I'll do it," he said, on the verge of crying. The rest of the turtles and their master high-fived each other. Donny came to a realization about one thing and quickly stood up. "Hey, wait a second! I already do make your tea!"

"And a job well done I might add," the sensei added.

Donny swore a few uncouth curse words under his breath and walked to the nearest support beam. He took a sloooooowwwww, deeeeeeeeepppppppp, bbbbbbrrrrreeeeaaaathhhhhh-

A sai embedded itself into the support beam over Donny's head. "Get on with it, genius." The techie shot a withering glare at his brother and began.

"Now if you look very closely," he began, taking the air of a professor, "there is a very carefully hidden pathway embedded in the rock of the support beam. I'd estimate its depth at 1/5 of a millimeter." He looked at the puzzled and clueless faces in the peanut gallery. "You guys didn't see it, did you?" All heads swayed back and forth as if they were in a daze. "And you call yourselves ninjas!" Leo and Splinter flinched, but that's all the reaction he got from the audience. He grumbled audibly and continued. "Elantian technology was so advanced that all you had to do was trace your finger along this pathway and the power battery would come floating down on a very advanced, I might say, anti-grav tech."

"As much as I'd love to know what the heck you said Donny," Raph said, "we already tried the finger trick. It didn't work."

Donny paled. "Well, the explanation for that is quite simple actually. You see, it's not just a pathway, it's more like a very odd tree, a map, or a grid. There are many ways to get to the end, but only one of them is the right one. I'd say there is a 1 out 16,985,340 chance that you trace the correct one. And unless one of you has a rabbit's foot or some other lucky charm on hand, I THINK WE MIGHT BE LOCKED IN!" he yelled hysterically, running like mad for the nearest door. To his relief, it opened. He wiped his brow and returned to the support beam. "Now then, any questions?" He looked at his family with a wide smile to try to cover up his true emotions. Nobody was fooled.

"Uh, Donny, dude, two questions. One, are you on drugs? And why would we be locked in?"

"No, I'm not on drugs, Mikey. Besides, have you guys learned nothing as ninjas? This puzzle is a security system to keep unwanted people, namely you guys I'd like to add, away from the power battery. The security system has a security feature that locks the place down if you trace a wrong path too many times in a row. Actually, 12 times in row."

Leo was very suspicious. "And you would know that how..."

"Let's just say the reason I didn't choose any of the other outposts to live in was because I locked them down."

"Then how'jya you get out?"

"Good ole' ninja explosives. Comes in handy. And no, you're not blowing up our home in case you guys goof up, understand?"

Murmurs of dissent and dissatisfaction echoed throughout the lair. Master Splinter rose his walking stick for silence. "Now, Donatello, tell your loving family the key to this mystifying challenge."

Donny swore again under his breath, but then smiled. "Sorry, Master Splinter. I told you guys the how, but now it's up to my loving ninja family to figure out the what. Good day, gentlemen." He walked away whistling a tune too cheerful for his current predicament. His ninja senses caught movement and he stepped back to avoid the oncoming danger. Raph's last sai, Mikey's nunchuku, and Splinter's stick embedded themselves in the floor an inch from his feet. Donny caught the reflection of his own face as the flat of Leo's blade flew by. He took a moment to consider probabilities of a wooden nunchuku embedding itself in stone before turning to face his family with an audible *gulp***.**

Leo, Mikey, Raph, Master Splinter...their body posture and attitude were demanding only one thing...obedience. Their faces were dark and shadowed over. Donny's brow was dripping with sweat and he let out a nervous chuckle.

Discarding their remaining weapons, the mutant family jumped on the TV's only chance for continued survival. He dove out of the way, running like crazy to the nearest pile of tech he had. Unfortunately, that was all the way across the lair. Knocking down everything in his path behind him to slow them down, he grabbed his experimental grappler and shot the line. Sensing his intentions, they jumped at him again. Mikey grabbed on to his foot and the duo reeled to the other side of the room at lightning speed. En route, Donny planted his foot in Mikey face, dropping him into the pond.

The techie went to work immediately, tossing his pieces of work left and right, in the hope of finding the correct gadget to help him escape this situation. Face it, the guy had something for everything. He adamantly refused to take second to ponder the utter destruction and chaos he caused all about the lair, preferring leave the lair with his scaly skin in one piece. He tugged his temporarily favorite piece of exquisite machinery out the pile with pride before jabbing it into his arm. Then, activating it before his family's very eyes, he disappeared.

"Dang," they swore. The remaining few cast brief glances at each other.

"Well, since Donny ain't here, someone wanna get the explosives?" Raph piped.

"I'll get the acid," Leo offered.

"Or," Mikey started walking to the pile. He picked up a random gadget and pointed to the self-destruct button. "Who's up for a little revenge?"

"Mikey had a good idea?"

"Yes, my sons. Michelangelo had a **very** good idea."

On that day, an evil greater Darkseid or Oroku Saki reigned supreme.

* * *

_(at their, i.e. Casey's and April's, house...The Second Time Around)_

April was currently standing at the door of her stairway, gaping at the spectacle in her antique shop. Her brain shorted out a few minutes ago, wondering how the heck Casey got his bike through the door. Granted it probably wasn't the same way as last time, considering there weren't any pieces of glass window sticking out of her cash register (A/N: remember when the Utrom Shredder blew up April's first shop).

She heard newspapers rustling down in the antique shop and hurried down to take care of the potential customer. All she found was her husband with a washcloth in hand scrubbing off his bike, and no newspapers in sight. The strange odor running around the room was the second question. Her suspicions, naturally, skyrocketed.

"Honey, as much as I'd love to have you around, what's that doing in here?"

"Oh, this? Uh, nothing, nothing, just polishin' my bike."

She wasn't buying it one bit. "Oh, really? Why can't you just polish it outside in the alley?"

"Well, cuz, uh, uh, uh...can I get back to ya on dat one?"

"That's alright, I can wait." Beads of sweat were rolling down his face as she walked over to him. "By the way, Casey Jones," she said with a sweet smile on her face, reaching over to the other side of the bike and picking something up, "we don't sell paint. So, now...is there something you want to tell me?"

The vigilante who muscled down countless (he could only count to fifty) Purple Dragons, instantly cracked. "Well ya see here, April. It's been a while since my bike got a paint job, so I figures, why not do it right now?"

"For one reason, me! Now, why can't you paint it in the alley?"

"The stink of da garbage is gonna make my paint run."

"So you choose to possibly ruin priceless antiques?" She was practically shouting by now.

The vigilante grabbed a palm-sized antique in one hand and the paint bottle in the other. His hands started swaying up and down, weighing the importance of both objects. With a satisfied nod, he put the antique away.

"Sorry, April. Fate has chosen."

His wife cried out exasperatedly. "That was so unfair! Fate, my..." CRASH! Something knocked down the kitchen door. The couple ran out back, each grabbing an improvised weapon along the way. There sprawled on the kitchen floor with a device injected into his arm was Donny.

"Donny!" They both ran, picked the turtle off the floor, and set him on a kitchen chair. The turtle was breathing heavily. April ran to get some juice, while Casey yanked the gadget out of his arm.

"Yo Donny, what's dis?" Casey asked.

"New...invention of...mine..." Donny said, catching his breath.

"Figures." April came back and gave him a cup of apple juice. He thanked her and gulped it down.

"That gadget of mine...siphons...85-90% of the energy...in your body and...converts it...into...a temporary boost...of speed. Or strength...either one you want. If you use both...it will...drain quicker. Leaves you...exhausted."

"Okay, Donny. Nice and easy, catch your breath," Casey instructed. He took a look at the new gizmo. "Nice piece of tech ya got here. So that how ya got here, huh?"

"Yea, I used it to...get away...from my bros," Donny said.

"Why?" The trio heard a massive explosion from the direction of the lair. "Oh, so Raph's on a rampage, huh?"

Donny wasn't listening. "MY INVENTIONS! NOOOO!" He sprang for the door, but the combined strength of the couple was able to put him back in the chair.

"Don't worry, Donny. Yo gizmos aw gonna be fine. Raph wouldn't do anything to them," he said. Then to himself, "I think."

"I'll call their shellcells," April said, grabbing the kitchen phone. "Donny, what are the new numbers? You told me you changed them."

"1-THE-TUR-TLEZ."

"Lemme guess. It was Mikey's idea." Donny nodded his head. "How original."

"Hello," April spoke into the phone. "Oh, hi Leo. Where are you? You're in the lair? OK, is there something wrong in the lair because we just heard a big 'boom' coming from your direction. Oh, you're just lightly singed? OK...OK. Oh, where's Donny? Um, Um," she turned to look at the turtle. He ran his finger across his throat. "Um, I don't know. Isn't he at your place? No? OK, I'll keep an eye out for him. OK, bye." She hung up the phone.

"OK, Donny. You want the good news or the bad?"

"Start with the good news."

"Your family doesn't think you're here."

"And bad news is? Lemme guess, Master Splinter heard and didn't believe you."

"H-h-how did you know?"

"I put a bug in your phone," he said. Then he pointed to the earphone in his ear.

"YOU WHAT!" they both shouted. Then April spoke up, "YOU'VE BEEN LISTENING TO OUR CONVERSATIONS?"

"Well, yea."

"BUT THEY'RE PRIVATE!" Casey continued, both him and April blushing.

"Jeez Casey, it isn't as if you told Raph everything that happened between you two anyway," Donny said casually.

"Casey?" April looked wryly at her husband.

"C'mon. Gimme a break, April. Raph said he wouldn't tell."

"Well, he didn't tell EVERYTHING," Donny piped.

"And how would you know that," she asked not-so-sweetly.

"Uh...Uh...Uh..."

Casey yanked a chain out of his pocketed, and tied up Donny so fast, Flash would've been impressed. April dashed to the phone and hit the redial button. "Hi, Leo. It's April again. Yea, Donny's here. Oh? You're on your way? Great! Yea, he's tied up. Make sure Raph's with you. We got a little something for him, too. OK, bye!"

* * *

**Here it is! A lot of you people who generously left reviews have been asking for more turtle spotlight, and you got it! There's another one chapter coming up, and it's about Raph. So don't worry, I'm going to be focusing on this fic for a couple months. Also there is one startling fact I must confess. I don't believe Abraham Lincoln was an Utrom. Sorry, but I'm breaking with the 2k3 canon on that one. No way you can convince me otherwise.**

**Ja ne,**

**revoltninja**


	13. Twas a Lovely Day in New Yoke

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own TMNT. Nickelodeon does.

* * *

"Smash! Boom! Huzzah! The crowd goes WILD! In your face, bro."

"Stuff it, Mikey. Dat fast one ya pulled wasn't in the game's cheatbook or rules, so where da heck did ya get it?"

The prankster put on a innocent face. "Oh, I don't know. Hey Donny! How are those blueberry filled donuts tasting like?"

"Why youuuuuuuuuu no good...I oughta t'row from here ta da Yankee stadium dugout! Or betta yet, Fenway Pawk!" The whole family, minus Raph, gasped at the utter disloyalty.

"My sons. Please, take this outside," Splinter pleaded.

"Uh, Master? Aren't ya supposed to say 'My sons, you are grown ninjas. You must control you emotions and use them as a weapon'?" Mikey asked.

"Old age has caught up to me. It possesses many disadvantages," Splinter said, rubbing his forehead, sensing an oncoming headache.

"Fine, Mikey. Ya wanna take this somewhe'e else?"

"Fine by me, bro. Buuutttt, you might wanna hear what I have to say before we go all 'Call of Duty' on each other."

"Mikey, where are those new tires from Raph's bike that you promised you'd drop off in my lab," Donny called out from he remote sanctum. "Remember those ones that Casey somehow managed to swipe from Agent Bishop's place? These papers here say that the material is so rare and valuable that even the CIA or the President don't have the right clearance to know that info."

Raph shot Mikey the glare of all h***. "Don't worry, Donny, I kept my end of the deal. The tires are under the table near your torch. Sorry about the gashes, though. I kinda rolled them over Leo's katanas," Mikey yelled.

"Don't worry, by the time I get done with them, the holes will be gone, and Bishop will wish he hadn't put those under Level 10 security at Territory 3."

"I'MA GONNA KILLLL YOOOOUUUUUU!" Raph bolted for the lab room and came out 1.3 seconds later holding a gigantic tire under each arm. Everything or anything in his path was utterly flattened in his haste to get out of the lair. Once he got to the garage, he hurriedly threw the tires in the back of warped experimental car of Donny's that looked like the child of a monster truck and a Volkswagon Bug and drove like mad out onto the streets.

The remaining brothers and father looked at this scene in dismay. "Mikey, I never got to touch those tires."

"Hey, dude, the deal was I leave the tires in lab...which I did, remember?"

* * *

Raph was so going to make Mikey and Donny pay, but right now, he had to get his near-priceless tires to Casey. The brainchild of the Volkswagon and monster truck came to a screeching halt in the alley beside the shop. The hockey-masked vigilante ran out of his house to deal with the possible intruder, but stopped short of the vehicle to stare at it in horror.

"Yo, Donny, dat you?"

"Nah, it's me, Case. What's up?"

Casey removed his mask and pointed at the abomination. "Dis yoz?"

"C'mon, Case. Ya know that Donny-boy's the mad scientist of da family. I just had ta borrow it a little."

"Why?"

"Mikey."

"Oh Lo'd, wha'd he do now?"

"Ya know doze magic tires ya got fo' our bikes?"

A sense of dread engulfed Casey. "Ya mean da ones I snuck with me bare hands outta Bishop's base? Doze?"

"Yea, by the way, how did ya get'm outta Territory 3? Dat stuff was bein' watched by Bishop and Waller for God's sake!"

"Eh, t'was nuttin'. Just an inside job."

Raph shook his head in disbelief and stared incredulously at his friend. "You got connections inside Cadmus and da EPF*?"

"Nah, just the EPF."

"Even dat! Ya do know dat everythin' da EPF and Cadmus do, 'sept fo' da tires and us, is watched by da President himself? And Bishop's whole nudder story! He knows 'bout da tires an' us an' probably even knows when one of his techies twitch! God, he probably's got trackin' devices in doze tires! Which means dat he knows where da lair is! Oh man, I gotta get back! Dey might be in trouble!"

Casey caught his panicking and running away friend by his shoulder. "Calm down, man. We are in absolutely no dane'ja what-so-eva."

Raph calmed down somewhat. "Yea, ya usually say dat right befo'e we get ambushed. So, tell me Case, why are we 'in absolutely no dane'ja what-so-eva'," he asked, crossing his arms and cocking his right eyebrow, or lack thereof.

"Well...'cuz Bishop's my inside man."

The red-banded turtle's eyes widened considerably, staring awkwardly into Casey's confused eyes.

"Uh, Raph my man? Are ya okay?" The vigilante snapped his fingers in front of the human reptile's face, then jumping back in surprise when he fainted in a heap. Casey acted quickly, catching his comrade's body before it hit the ground. He slung one turtle arm across his shoulder and set him down in the front passenger seat of the warp experimental vehicle.

"Now, let's see whats got ya so sca'ed, buddy." He opened the back door, bracing himself for any surprises. A loud shriek of horror pierced the New York night before Casey himself fainted away.

(*Earth Protection Force. Agent Bishop is the head of the EPF and Agent Waller is the head of Cadmus, both which are government agencies. Agent Bishop is/was an enemy of the Turtles.)

* * *

Raph opened his eyes woozily. He turned his head around and bristled slightly when the back of his neck cracked.

"Uh Casey, ya dere?"

"Uh man, anyone get the name of dat Monsta Bug dat hit us?"

"Dat was Donny's caw."

"Figures."

"Where are we?"

"Welcome Raph, to my 'Fortress of Iso...Iso', uh what was dat name again?"

"Isolation," stated a third voice. The duo paid no attention to it.

"Yea, yea, dat's it...My God, April! How'd ya get in here?"

"Through the door," she stated casually.

"Oooookay. Lemme ask a betta question. Why are you in here? An' how'd ya know where dis place was."

"I've been following you the whole week," his wife said.

"Prove it."

"Well, two nights ago, you left the house to go vigilante again. You took down 13 Purple Dragons including one that was a EPF cover agent."

"He/I muscled a EPF agent!" both Brooklyn-ians yelled in disbelief.

"Anyway, after Casey here screamed like birthday boy, I ran outside and to my surprise, found both of you knocked out in an alley. Care to explain?"

"Did ya look in da back seat?"

"Well, yea, I had to stuff you in there."

"Did ya see dem mangled tires?"

"Do you even know what 'mangled' means?"

"Funny. Anyways, I gots them from Bishop."

April doubled over laughing. "Hahahahahaha! That's funny! Oh, that's priceless! Hahahaha! For a second, I thought you said you got them from Bishop. Hahahaha! But, seriously, who did you buy them from?"

"Bishop," he stated blankly. April looked at her husband's face with scrutinizing eyes. She did not see any twitches or indications of a lie. Her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Casey caught her and laid her down in the makeshift bed.

"Now, wheres was we," Casey started.

"You were talkin' 'bout the co'ny (corny) name ya picked fo' yo secret hideaway."

"An' why is it so co'ny?"

"Sounds like ya ripped it off from Supaman."

"Aw c'mon, ya got any betta ideas?"

"Yea, how about 'Warehouse Whopper'?"

Casey stared at his friend like he had grown a second head. "Nah, lame. First of all, does dis look like a Burger King shack to you? Second, he'e in New Yoke, we go fo' McDonald's. Thirds, it sounds like one a Mikey's bad jokes."

"It is. Besides, how did ya set dis up all so soon? I mean ya got the cage ring ova dere, the bleachers over he'e...oh no, don't tell me. Dis ain't da Purple Dragon hideout dat we had ta rescue you from, is it?"

"As a matta of fact, it is. I mean look Raph. Barely anyone remembez dis joint anymo'. Only guy dat knows would be Hun, and dat goon disappeared to God knows where after dat business with yo mini-clones a week ago. If any of dem were to come back he'e at dis second, dey'd see," he looked around the warehouse for pointers, "... …a guy wid a hockey mask talkin' to a giant mutant turtle and his wife passed out on da bleachas. Okay, not a good example."

"Yo a nutcase, ya know dat?"

"Said da pot to da kettle."

"True. So, how we gonna get dem tires fixed?"

"Guess we just hav'ta anudder blackjack game wid Bishop."

"Dat's how ya got'em? How did ya know about dem in the first place?"

"I met him at one of da bars I busted. Lemme tell ya, fo' a guy dat's seen Honest Abe wid a gun mo' times den his wife, dat guy got tipsy before he drank half a shot," Casey said.

"Lemme get dis straight. You bust down a few Purple Dragons in a bar, and den find Bishop wid a glass in his hands. What da heck was he doin' dere in the first place?"

"Heard 'im say somethin' 'bout Stockman drivin' him nuts."

"Dat'd do it. So ya challenged him to a game of blackjack while he was drunk? And da tires was da stakes."

"Yea. See, I had to put a little genius inta it."

"Oh my god. Ya lost? How di'jya get da tires den?"

"Relax. I didn't lose. We agreed ta play reverse blackjack. You know, like a 4 of hearts beats a 7 of diamonds," Casey explained.

"Figures. If anyone knows how ta do things backwards, its us two."

"Yea, anyways. I swiped a deck of cawds from a sleepin' goon, and we started playin'. Da guy probably t'ot we's was playin' solitai'e, cuz if I won his 3 a diamonds on an ace a spades."

"So ya cheated?"

"It's not cheatin' if ya don't get caught."

Raph groaned. "So first ya stole a deck of cawds, den basically exto'ted two sets a tires from a federal agent."

"Hey, he was honor-bound to fetch dem."

"Yo' one to talk. So, if we want dem repaired, how we gonna find Bishop?"

"Aha! Dat's easy. I was prepared just fo' dis occasion."

"Ya were?"

"Funny. He'e, gimme a lighter. Okay, now all we have'ta do is light dis firework, and we's good ta go."

"Yo lightin' it inside an abandoned Purple Dragon warehouse dat might be full'a weapons?"

"Uh, good point. Let's step out fo' a bit."

They went outside and lit the string. The firework shot up to the sky, bursting into a beautiful...

"Bishop chess piece? Seriously, Case?"

"Dat's his callin' card. Now, get da scotch ready. It's unda the third bleacha on the right."

"What 'bout da cawds?"

"I got'em he'e in my pocket."

"Are you sure ya gonna win."

"Don't worry. With what I'm 'bout ta do, I could drain da whole country of eve'y penny dey have.

"Uh, ain't da country in debt?"

* * *

**And, there you have it, people. The second chapter of the filler arc. Sorry it was shorter than the last one, I've been in quite a hurry these past two weeks. I promise the next one with be at least 3 or 4 times bigger.**

**Ja ne,  
revoltninja**


	14. Picking Up Lessons

**Disclaimer:** I do not own TMNT. Nickelodeon, for some reason, does.

* * *

Splinter busied himself pacing back and forth on the floor. One would think that he'd wear down enough wood and dirt and brick to dig a makeshift grave. But this old master wasn't ready to buy the farm yet. Not until he got one thing taken care of. Maybe two...or three. He knew he'd pass away with a bloodcurdling scream if Jack hadn't proposed to Courtney by that time.

But onto more important matters. He had to teach/convince (ahem) this teenager to not pull such rebellious and wayward stunts on his master. Which given the fact that said subject was a teenager, it would be easier to throw said subject over a cliff with bricks tied to his feet than sacrifice the inner ninja peace and patience that he so much revered.

Hell froze over when the others repaired the hole in the lair. All of its lights were turned off but one. Said light bulb was hanging from a lamp post that looked more like the gallows than an ordinary post. Below this light was the infamous Donatello, being tried for fleeing a pile of exploding weaponry (gadgets). This mutant convict was sitting/tied to a kitchen chair that was a foot deep in a kiddy pool. Right now, the kiddy pool probably has more sweat than water in it. And his bo staff was half a foot in front of his tied feet. They were mocking him. He just knew it. He could feel the taunting all around him. Especially that pizza boy. Can't blame the mutant turtle, though. The guy had it coming.

He looked down at his bo staff "forged" from the divine tree of Olympus, or so he claimed. The temptation to just reach those few inches for his staff was unbearable. Kind of like letting Raph have the last Twizzler. He knew that someday the whole family's sweet tooth would be the end of them. Only he was wrong about one little detail. This seemed to be the end of him.

"Donatello, what do you have to say for yourself?" the aging master said.

"Why'd ya split and leave behind this exploding dump?" Raph continued.

He took a deep breath. "You guys were attempting to gain power through unlawful means. You and that extorting pizza boy. So, in the morally-questionable words of that imbecile, you can take this pizza and shove it up your..."

THWAP! Donny's bo disappeared from his feet in lightning speed and ended up landing on his head. Oh yeah, they were mocking him.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter snapped. "You have no right to do that to your brother! Hand me the bo!"

"Sorry, Sensei."

Splinter took the stick from the resident joker and THWAP! On Donny's head again!

"Master!"

"Sorry, Donatello. I couldn't resist."

* * *

_(topside)_

Leo's eyes darted left and right, scanning for any signs of trouble as he walked down the sidewalk in broad daylight. The ninja was wearing his regular high-collar trench coat, hat, and gloves. He had snuck into Mikey's room and looted some makeup from his prank kit. Looking through all the slinkies, markers, and plungers make Leo pity Raph. He wasn't Donny, but Leo knew it wouldn't be another 6 hours before the entire kit had to be refilled.

After stashing the makeup he needed in his trench coat, he made a quick excuse and left the lair. Right before coming out of the manhole, he applied the white skin makeup on his face, but didn't remove his mask. If anyone looked VERY closely, his face would look like a mobster's that had his share of rigorous exercise and fights. People weren't exactly paying very close attention to him anyway. Despite that, the paranoia and senses that came with being a ninja were almost always active.

He turned right at a 7-Eleven and walked a short distance before encountering a somewhat small crowd outside an alleyway. Curiosity getting the better of him, he shoved and pushed around 'til he got to the front. There, in front of him, was 14 gangsters, plus a fat 15th one holding up a similarly obtuse Asian man. He seemed to be in alright condition, just a hostage. To the right of Leo, was an Asian woman, but she was biting her nails and had tears falling.

"OK, listen up!" the apparent leader yelled. "This neighborhood and eight around us are under Black Mask's rules. Ya pay your protection money, ya don't get hurt. Cuz I know there's a lot of yuz morons that don't want the mob, the Purple Dragons, or the Foot to get ta ya. So, you got us. Ya don't pay, and this poor fella loses a couple pounds. And that's just the start. Capiche?"

Leo looked to his right. "Is he your husband," the turtle asked. All the lady did was nod. Leo sighed. This went against every rule in the ninja handbook that he knew. He knew Master Splinter was going to give him another lecture about jeopardizing their identity, but he had to save this guy from getting. Although, there was this odd vibe about him. Heh, maybe it was his paranoia.

"Drop'im," Leo said, stepping forward. Everyone stared at him, the mysterious identity-hiding savior, in horror and shock. The turtle groaned. He really didn't need this.

"Oh? And who are you, punk?" the leader retorted.

"I don't like repeating myself. Drop'im."

"Well, that makes two of us, punk. Now, who's gonna make me? You? Just who do you think you are?" he threatened with his two foot-long knives.

Four shurikens slid into Leo's right hand. The ninja threw them at a gangster nearest to the alley wall on right, pinning him there. Two shurikens with thin "Donny wire" pinned his right wrist and the other two pinned his left one. The gangster dropped his knife in alarm, scoring a slight cut on his thigh.

"What the..." the leader's head snapped to the tied henchman. Catching him distracted, Leo crossed crossed the distance between him and the leader in no time and swung. All some people saw was a brief flash of metal and heard a thud. The leader, nicknamed "95", noticed at the last second, and jumped back in time to avoid what he thought was a weird punch by a mile. The rest of the gangsters raised their weapons in alarm. 95 held up his hand to his face and felt some blood dribble from a scratch on his right cheek. Then he noticed, to his horror and surprise, that his right hand didn't have his knife. He look to his opponent and saw the weapon in his hand. So that's how he got the blood.

"The hell was that? Ya missed me by a mile! How the hell could you have gotten me, even with the knife?"

"Iaido."

"Huh?"

They waited, and all Leo did was scrutinize 95 and make him even angrier. "It's isn't easy to disable the weapon hand of an ambidextrous enemy," the turtle finally spoke.

95 blew up in rage and threw his remaining knife at the mutant, signaling for the others to attack. Leo caught the blade between the two fingers of his other hand, and with skillful redirection, threw it through the hand of the nearest charging goon. Leo kicked the screaming man in the stomach and sent him flying into the man pinned to the wall, knocking them both out. 2 down, 12 to go. He jumped over two more heads, and bashed them together, also knocking them out. Two brave citizens jumped in and knocked a garbage dumpster into and on 3 more henchmen. Another gangster tried to charge them, but was dazed by a thrown baseball to the temple and the two citizens punching his lights out. 8 down, 6 to go. Leo put away the knife in his pocket and placed his hands on another lowlife's shoulders. Boosting himself up, he spun 720 degrees and knocked out 2 more, before landing and pulling the support goon's arm over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground. 11 down, 3 to go. The crowd dealt with the remaining two henchmen, while Leo walked up to 95. Behind 95 was the fat gangster holding the hostage.

Leo analyzed his opponent again and was disturbed by the man sickening smile. "Remember me," 95 asked. The head gangster pulled out a knife in his left hand and a gun in his right.

Leo's eyes widened. "What the?"

"Remember this, too? This little blade fell outta your pocket when when you knocked out Nick and Eton. You twitch, and I fill ya with enough iron ta last you an eternity."

_This is bad. VERY Bad. _ Leo thought. _I can dodge the bullet, but these people around me can't. Trying to distract him again is tough, but..._ "I like the knife you have there. It's nice and shiny. Balance could use some work, but hey...can't be picky, right?"

"What are you babblin' about? I clean these babies every 5 hours. These things are the best in town."

"How clean?"

"The hell are you talkin' 'bout? I wiped them off just b'fore I got here. They're so clean that...wait a minute. They are clean. There's no blood on 'em. But what 'bout..." he touched the cut on his cheek. "What the hell did ya do to me? Did ya clean them when I wasn't looking or somethin'?"

"Nope." Leo pointed up the alley wall. 95, not even caring to shoot at the moment, and the crowd followed Leo's finger and saw a Japanese katana imbedded 15 feet up the wall. Leo pulled out his other katana.

"What the? So that's how ya got me, huh? And ya got another one, too. Hehehe...ya know what this kind of thing does to me? It makes me mad!"

Right before 95 fired the bullet, Leo jumped forward, deflected the bullet against the flat of his blade into the wall, and swung his own shuriken in the barrel of the gun, causing it to explode when 95 shot again. The gangster gritted his teeth as he tried to will away the pain. 95 put his blade in reverse grip, and shot forward, slashing at Leo. The turtle jumped, spun, and kick 95 into the wall. The leader slump against it and tried get up, but froze when the katana stabbed into the wall right next to his head. Leo kicked his wrist against the wall, breaking it, and causing him to drop his knife and shriek in pain. With the leader down, Leo pulled his blade out of the wall and walked to the fat goon holding the Asian man hostage with a knife to the throat.

The man was shaking in his shoes as he witnessed the carnage that had occurred around him. He looked at his knocked out friends sprawled on the cement and then the approaching katana-wielding avenger. "Stay back! I swear I'll kill him!" he yelled, sweat dripping down his face.

"You kill him, and then," Leo swung his katana against ground, scoring a good gash, "I kill you."

The man dropped the knife, let go of the hostage, and backed up. "By the way," Leo said. He held up one of his two fingers, which the goon was too scared to notice the oddity, and wiped it down his own cheek, revealing the green skin underneath. This was the last straw, and the man fainted.

Glad that through whole ordeal the hat hadn't fallen off or nobody found out his secret, Leo wasn't willing to try his luck any further. Sheathing his katana, he flipped up the fire escape, grabbed his imbedded katana, and flipped some more to the roof, where he landed soundlessly. Once nobody below couldn't see him, he took off his makeup, trench coat, gloves, and hat, and then folded them up flat. He put it between his shell and belt, then took off.

* * *

_(back in the alley)_

"Woah, did you see that! That guy practically took all of them down by himself!"

"That's the most fighting I've seen with my own eyes! And I take martial arts classes!"

"I wonder what made the big man faint?"

A lady approached the Asian woman. "Where's your husband, the hostage?"

"Oh, don't worry," she replied. "He's alright. He just went to cool his nerves."

* * *

_(half a mile away)_

Leo ran as far away from the scene as he could. He could hear the police sirens, and he in no way, shape or form, wanted to be involved in it. But he loved this, really. Running across the rooftops, no trench coat or hat, not hiding anything, his mask (or as Mikey would say: golden locks) flowing in the wind. It was freedom.

But what he didn't like, was being followed. He stopped abruptly, not caring to turn around.

"You're quite fast to keep up with me at this speed," Leo said, finally turning around, facing nothingness. "Not only that, but you can fly, shapeshift, turn invisible, become intangible...and you tried to read my mind. Tell me, did I get anything wrong, kisu-jin?"

A green figure materialized in front of him. "How did you..."

"Know that you were the hostage? You tried to read my mind when that man freed you. Even if it was faint, your eyes did glow."

"And yet you resisted me. Although, I tried to make it faint and as undetectable as I could to avoid distracting you. If I'm not mistaken by what I have gathered during my travels, you are a practitioner of the art of ninjutsu. You are very skilled in analyzing in opponent. "

"What can I say? I'm taught by that best."

"Enough to know the vast scope of my most vital abilities just by me tracking you. Very impressive. Let me introduce myself. I'm J'onn J'onzz, a Martian. And you're name is Leonardo, right?"

Leo stiffened. "How did you..."

"It is the only piece of information I managed to glean from your mind."

"I had a suspicion that I was late in blocking you out."

"Even if you didn't try to block me, you're mind structure is very sophisticated. It was very difficult."

"If you came here to compliment me, you're wasting your time," Leo said, turning to his side, but keeping one eye on the alien.

"This is about Batman."

"What? The urban legend of Gotham? What's he got to do with me," he replied, this time turning his full shell on the Martian.

"Him and his apprentice were captured by warriors very skilled in Japanese weaponry. We in the Justice League have been staking out every lead we could find on these kind of individuals. We've been hearing rumors of four warriors stalking the shadows in New York City."

"So?"

"The incident back there was just a ploy to either collect data from those who had seen them or to draw them out. However, after reading the minds of every single person in that area, none of them have met you before. According to our intelligence, these warriors wielding katanas, staffs, tridents, and others sorts of weaponry. I'd never imagined them to be mutant turtles. I'm assuming you would be the one with the katana blades."

Leo spun a full 180 in a split second, whipped out his katanas, and jumped into a stance. "You lay one finger on my family, and you won't live to see the sun set," he snarled.

"I did not say that we suspected you or your...family," J'onn proclaimed, totally calm. "After seeing you, I knew this action couldn't have been done by someone of your personality."

"Then why are you hanging around me?" Leo snarled again, not releasing his stance or katanas.

"Because we were merely looking for people, who, as warriors, encountered the real kidnappers."

"You're not telling me everything."

"Astute, as always. Batman sent a message through the encrypted Justice League channel saying that he and his protege were safe. Although we trust his judgment, there were many things off with his description. Also, this message was relayed with him being in the company of a person with people in high places and shady connections, and who has been rumored to encounter four warriors of the same calibar. We believe this person may be one of the culprits, although Batman assured us she was not. He told us not to look for him, but our suspicions are still aroused."

"She? Who?"

"Karai Saki." Leo's eyes went wide, and his whole body stiff. "I assume you know of her."

Leo sheathed his katanas and turned sideways. "If what you said was true and Karai was there, you should trust what Batman is telling you. She's not the type to capture warriors like him."

"Then what is she doing in East Asia?"

"East Asia? More likely Japan. Karai is Japanese and Batman may just be on an investigation. There's no evidence indicating they were captured."

"They went unconscious and then reappeared in, according to you, Japan. I don't not think it is a mere coincidence."

"But by who?"

"When one of duo was captured, he managed to slip off one lead that led to this investigation. Wooden samurais."

Leo froze and his eyes went wide. "No, it can't be! Not them! Not again!" he said, holding his head in disbelief.

J'onn frowned. "You know who they are. You know what's going on. You must tell me what you know about them."

"I'm sorry, but I can't," the turtle said, grimly.

"Then you are coming with me."

"No I'm not. But know this. A storm is coming. You must be prepared. There is weaponry at Saki Industries that can help protect you. If you don't, the terror will consume you."

"Batman warned us of this. He and Ms. Saki also gave us the instructions that you just did."

"Good. Trust in the warning Batman gave you and what he has told you. Instead of trying to search for him, follow whatever he said to the letter. Although I haven't met Batman, he's obviously trusted by them, and I've decided to put my trust in him, too. Be grateful that you know of this early...before it's too late." He turned around and walked away.

"'Them'? I believe it is accurate to assume that you have been in league with his captors."

"He was not captured. He was transferred."

"Transferred to where? For what reason?"

"Like I said, I can't tell you."

"If vital information about the coming conflict is as necessary as you make it seem, any source that we may come across is as valuable as any other, and that is obviously you. We will prepare as Batman instructed, but we require this information, and you will come with me."

"I'm not your enemy," Leo warned, pulling out his right katana, "and don't make me one. You may not live to regret it."

"You WILL come with me," J'onn said forcefully. His set his focus on Leo and his eyes glowed.

Leo's katana clattered onto the ground, and he fell to a knee, screaming in pain as the Martian attacked his mind. Struggling through the agony, he slowly reached for the tip of his katana. He painfully willed himself to stand up to a degree, and whipped the katana at alien.

J'onn, surprised at the mutant's will and resistance, broke his concentration for a second and phased through the flying, spinning blade. Surprising him once again, J'onn did not expect the ninja to take advantage of the break in the concentration and follow the blade through his body. He immediately spun around and managed to catch Leo grappling his katana with a rope and then fall off the side of the 5-story building. "No!" he cried out, darting to the edge and over it, hoping to catch the falling turtle. When he came to, there was no sign of the turtle, his rope, or his flying katana. He did a wide mental sweep of the area, hoping to catch any sign of his mind. Finding nothing at all, he cut the search off.

He stared at the scene inquisitively, attempting to comprehend what had just happened. As painful as it was to admit it, these types of fighters and their skills were way out of his league, even more surprising as he was the alien with the multiple superpowers. No, this was something Batman practically did on a daily basis and was more accustom to. In fact, this warrior seemed to embody Batman in everything but looks and the primary choice of weaponry. Including his honor.

He mentally went over the limited snippets of memories he managed to copy from the mutant's impressively trained mind:

Three more turtle brothers and a rat master. Very interesting. It would seem they were the source of rumors concerning the so-called shadow heroes.

A vast brick warehouse room associated with the term Elantian. He would have to ask around and look into the Justice League databases for that.

Karai Saki. It would seem that the turtle definitely knew about her and even fought with her on multiple accounts.

The Shredder. The New York urban legend, as he remembered from the scans of other people's minds. It would seem that this ninja had also battled this villain numerous times. Linked to the title of Shredder were three memories. The first one had an Utrom in a suit of Shredder armor. This skyrocketed his suspicions to unimaginable levels. Utrom encryptions in the Saki Industries computers and now this. It would be safe to assume that this family knew all about the Utroms and Karai. In fact, he was almost certain that the mutant family and Karai all had their histories tied to the Utroms.

He took another look at the Utrom. Chills ran down his back. This one seemed very familiar. His own memories dawned on him. Ch'rell! The Utrom criminal that plagued several worlds, initiating wars and destroying entire races just to further his owns assets and plans. He heard that he was finally captured, but news from his transport ship was that it disappeared in this solar system. It would seem that he finally landed on Earth.

The second Shredder, unlike the first, was unmasked, instead of "un-stomached." In fact this one was the controversial wild card in the whole investigation, Karai. Rumors in the JL Database said that she didn't take the criminal empire to new levels like her father did, but instead directed all resources to one objective. Later on, that objective shifted to something else. That's all they could get.

When he tried viewing the third photo, the memory ignited in a blood red inferno and the Martian fell to the ground in pain. Despite the pain presenting itself in the mental realm, burn marks began spontaneously appearing on the extraterrestrial skin. Focusing all his mental power, he forcefully ejected that memory from his mind. On the outside, J'onn was panting hard as he tried to regain his breath. Fear came over him again as he thought about that fire. The same energies that were blocking his telepathy from reaching the Dynamic Duo were the same as the ones that set that memories on fire. It was safe to say that he gathered much more intel during the last hour than the whole Justice League did in the past couple days. And yet, despite all this info, a lot of things still didn't make sense. There were too many unknown factors, like this family of mutants and Karai. And the possibility arose during his discussion with the turtle that Batman and Nightwing weren't actually kidnapped, but were now there out of their own free will. Batman certainly made it sound like so. If anything, the talk he had made the situation did more to complicate the situation instead of clear it up.

Speaking of Shredders, a lot of Utrom technology surfaced in New York right before Batman and his protege were kidnapped, leaving a giant crater in the middle of an intersection, and then disappeared. Terrific examined the residue and confirmed it had transported itself through the dimensions, to where it is presumed that it was destroyed. Knowing the full capabilities of the technology, J'onn had no doubt that it was that giant...whatever it was that released Ch'rell from his exile on the ice asteroid Tarnell IV.

That was it. He was calling another Founders conference as soon as he got back to the Metro Tower. But first, he had to get back to his wife. Alien or not, he dreaded being on the wrong end of pepper gas.

* * *

_(3 stories down, in an abandoned apartment)_

Leo's senses and paranoia skyrocketed to unimaginable levels after his meeting with the alien.

"_That was too close. What would the Last Martian and the Justice League want with us? And why can't I remember that last part of the conversation? All I can remember is that he said the duo of Gotham were kidnapped and they were looking for leads as to their whereabouts. Said Batman sent them a message that said they were fine and that Karai was there. Why would Karai be in Japan with the duo? What I can't figure out is why Batman was warning him about something, and why I seem to familiarize with it. Oh man, this is bad! That telepathy! He probably wiped a minute or two of my memories. That's why I can't remember some of the pieces to the puzzle. And from what my suspicions are telling me, those were very important ones._

"_I can't be too trusting at this moment. Odds are he managed to copy some memories from my psyche and is looking through them right now. Thing is, I gotta find out which memories he saw, and hopefully prevent any damage. Can't have him finding the truth about the rest of us or Karai. From what Donny said and what I know, the Justice League has way too many connections in the government and important places, much more than Karai. If Justice League found out about Karai being the Shredder, it's likely they'll look into Karai's files and put their own investigation into here activities. I can't have them slowing things down, not when she was so close to reforming. I gotta get back to the lair and get Master Splinter's help. He knows much more than I do on memory transfers and copies. If the Justice League does know that Karai was the Shredder, I'm sending a message to the Foot Headquarters. Have her prepare her own case before theirs._

"_I gotta thank Master Splinter, though, for teaching us this technique. Shielding our minds through training and then teaching us to hide them from mental sweeps...the man is a GENIUS! Donny's psi-tech did come in handy through."_

* * *

_(in the Justice League Founder's room)_

"Ya know, this has got to be a record. I mean, seriously? How many times have we called these kind of meetings in the past couple days? I'm thinkin' a bringing my couch and TV here," said Flash, trying to spark any hope of a witty conversation. He looked at the other five that were also seated and didn't even see a single twitch in any of them. "Man, we really need a comedian around here." Pause. "Okaaaaaayyyy, so, J'onn, whad'ya got?"

"I've made a breakthrough into the disappearance of Batman and Nightwing." All the Founders went stiff, including Flash. The speedster dropped his lighthearted attitude and pursed his lips. "Considering the potential enormity of the situation coupled with the warning Batman gave us, I found it necessary to dig up some odd and unexplained mysteries in the Justice League database."

"What do you mean 'dig up'?" Shayera asked.

"Remember when Alfred, Batman's butler, told us that they managed to slip off one hint about their captors?"

"Yea, wooden samurais. Moving, too," Flash said.

"I came to a conclusion that this disappearance had something to do with Batman's history and that this entire situation involved warriors of Batman's caliber."

"You mean the sneaky, fast, moody type?" the speedster asked.

"Yes, ninjas."

"What!" and "Come again?" were among the varied responses.

Before they could say anything, J'onn raised his hand. "Wait, there's more. Yes, it's true what you've heard. Traditional fully-trained ninjas have basically disappeared right off the map, but there are those who have trained in this art in secret and have become quite skillful...like Batman."

"That doesn't come as much of a surprise there," Superman spoke up. "The man's fast on his feet, never stays on the the ground more than two seconds, and his moves remind me of an OfficeMax rubberband ball. But, Batman a ninja? Aren't they supposed to be assassins who take morally-questionable jobs for money and, you know, assassinate?"

"That also occurred to me, too. However, if you look at each of our rogues galleries, you rarely find one with such skills. Batman and Green Arrow are the only heroes in the League with experience when it comes to these types of adversaries such as the League of Shadows. It would reason that they possess the skills to recognize and counteract these people."

"How about we cut to the chase here," Green Lantern said.

"Very well. As you all know, Batman is very secretive and shies away from public attention. He prefers to be known as a rumor or a monster as much as possible as to instill fear in criminals like the mafia. If I was to find any lead in this supposed ninja or secretive martial artist community, I'd have to look for people who are rumors themselves. There had been reports filed in the database about mysterious beings stalking the shadows and thwarting New York criminal gangs like the Purple Dragons."

"Sounds likes Bruce," Diana said.

"Exactly. You all seem to be catching on. My wife and I coincidentally had been on a sightseeing tour of New York, so we took advantage of the opportunity..._(tells the hostage situation, the meeting, and the memories)_."

By the end of the narrative, J'onn could see the rest trying to keep their expressions of shock in check...and failing. Especially Flash.

"Okay, so lemme get this straight," Wally said. "You, the man from Mars, let a teenage turtle pull a fast one on you? Man, the day I let that happen is the day I hand in my boots."

J'onn winced. "This was no ordinary turtle. Perceptive enough to deduce my abilities, detect me even through I was intangible and invisible, and from the memories I managed to copy, I can deduce that he values life and has been through considerable emotional pain. He is no ordinary ninja."

"The way you described him...his skills, his honor...It's Bruce," Diana said softly, sadness lacing her words.

Superman put a hand on her shoulder. "We all miss him, Diana. So, let's see what we have here. Batman and Nightwing were captured. Yet, this turtle ninja, who obviously knows his captors, told you he wasn't captured and that he's safe...which is basically what Bruce also told us. And from what you told him, he warned you that something big and dangerous is coming our way...which is again what Bruce also told us. And like Wally said a couple days ago, Bruce gets himself in these scrapes all the time, and it's basically what he does on a daily basis. I really don't see much of a need to rescue the two. I think we should focus on preparing for whatever the heck those two warned us about. I took a couple Leaguers with me on that trail that Karai put us on and found a stash of abnormal weaponry. Terrific's analyzing the stuff right now in his lab."

"Yeah, but you forgot one thing. Karai's a Shredder, a criminal lord. Doesn't the fact that the duo and Karai are together raise a few eyebrows," GL asked.

"You know how you guys can sometimes give me a hard time about being too trusting and looking for the light in places where it usually isn't," asked the man of steel. The others nodded. "Bruce is practically the opposite, and if he trusts a criminal enough for him to be teaming up like this, there must be some really big redeeming trait about her. I looked up her file and saw that her faction has been quite silent for quite some time. In fact, not a single disturbance in the underworld has any connection with her."

"What are you trying to say here, Supes?" Flash asked.

"I'm saying there is pretty big chance that she's turned back and reformed."

* * *

**And there ya have it. I know you guys were hoping for something much bigger, but I got summer classes that I'm behind in. Btw, I decided on another avatar for Grayson. If any of you guys spot continuity errors or stresses, I'd appreciate you mention them because I'm losing my mental timeline of the fic myself. Also if you have any suggestions, advice, or just certain elements that you'd love to see in the fic, don't bother asking, I'm always open to these kind of things. btw, I know about the Karai's last name screwup I made. If I'm not mistaken, it's supposed to be Oroku, not Saki. But since it's seems so catchy, and Karai never was given a last name, even in the comics, I've decided to let it stick. Oh, and btw (again), I've passed 50K!  
**

**revoltninja (btw, think I need a new screenname?)**


	15. Memory

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own TMNT or the Justice League, nor any characters affiliated with either. DC has JL and Nick has TMNT.

**Special thanks to my beta, Empress Caroline.**

* * *

_(sewers)_

Leo tiptoed through the sewer tunnels on his way to the lair. His paranoia was still in overdrive due to his encounter with the Martian—so much that he'd stand and listen for an entire minute when another sewer tunnel intersected with his. His mind was in no different of a mess, as it was sorting out dozens of possibilities and suspicions, no doubt because of the alien, too.

He got to the concealed door, pulled the multiple secret levers, punched in the keycode, and tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for it to open. The lair was a-buzzing as usual. Donny was still working out the security bugs. Splinter was setting up the tatami mats and various training tools. And then there was the usual—Raph taking Mikey with Herculean strength, rage, and conviction, and tossing him into the pond from the second floor. Of course, Mikey couldn't let a maneuver like that go unanswered, and made sure that it would end up being two turtles treading water instead of one. Leo shook his head in amusement. Same old, same old.

"Yo Leo, what's up? What took ya so long?" Raph hollered as he came up for air.

"Nothing much. I did get you that extra you wanted, Mikey." The prankster disappeared from Raph's grip like a wizard and reappeared at Leo's feet with his hands and knees on the floor. Before Mikey could start incessantly begging, Leo did the smart thing and tossed it far to the side, letting his brother leap out of his comfort zone for the upgrade. He then turned to his teacher who was balancing on top of an ordinary bo staff. "Father, do you have a moment?"

"Yes, Leonardo. What seems to be the problem?"

"Um, can we discuss this in your room?"

Splinter caught the urgent look on his son's face. "Very well."

Unfortunately, despite Mikey fawning over his item, Donny typing at 500 WPM, and Raph drying off, all their heads shot up in alarm. They all apparently sensed the same things their master did. Raph threw away the vendetta he was pursuing a second ago and carefully watched as Leo walked into the room and slid the Japanese doors shut. Their leader's entire body screamed danger. Raph's eyes darted to his prankster brother, but that mask also slid off, revealing the ninja underneath. He had also left his upgrade on the floor and recognized the event that transpired. The two brothers' eyes met, and a look of understanding passed between the two, their previous hostilities entirely forgotten. They both turned and locked eyes with Donny, who gave them a nod in return. He had also abandoned his matters, as evident by the multiple warnings popping up all over his computer screen.

They silently got up one-by-one, and with a few stealthy movements, secured themselves along different portions of the door's perimeter. Raph and Donny took the two sides of the door, while Mikey suspended himself over the frame. With themselves secured, listening in was easy.

* * *

_(in the room)_

"And you say during this encounter, he tapped into your memories?" Splinter tried to assure. Leo nodded. "And there is evidence that he tampered with your memory of this conversation?"

The swordsman nodded again. "Yes, Master. I'm absolutely sure he did. Who would stand there for ten minutes and only remember three?"

Their teacher threw him a "you've-got-to-be-kidding-me" look.

"Right…Mikey. Anyway, I was hoping you could help me or give me a hint or two on how to gather info about the memories he looked at and maybe recover some of my memories that he erased."

"You say that this encounter was hasty and that you disturbed his telepathic probing when you attacked him, yes?" Leo replied the affirmative. Splinter stood up and started pacing around the room, his hands behind his back. "Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo…you can come in now," Splinter called out.

"You got to be kidding me," Leo moaned. He glared at each and every one of them as they flipped inside. "Didn't you hear me tell Master Splinter this was private?"

Said master interrupted before anything else could be said. "No, Leonardo. What happened to you involves all of us." He drove the point of his stick into the ground, demanding attention. They each sat down. "First off, congratulations are in order."

"Uh, congratulations, master?" Donny asked.

"Yes. Today was a successful field test for all of you, not just Leonardo. All the mental training and discipline that you have built up over the years has proven its worth today. Granted, and as always, this does not signal the end of such training. Instead, you all have ascended to an entirely new level where you can all defend your minds adequately on such a plane. There are many more to come. Your experiences with the Utrom Shredder and many others should have taught you that there are many beings within this world that are capable of many different abilities, including telepathy. This technique I taught you is quite simple actually. By clearing your mind and emptying yourself, you void your presence on the mental plane, thus concealing your mental presence. This, however, is not important at the moment.

"Second, if Leonardo is any indication," he said, pointing at the turtle himself, "the rest of you are rather unpredictable. Leonardo reacted with such haste that he took his adversary by surprise and broke his concentration, thus robbing him of his greatest advantage at that moment. Thus, if I'm not mistaken, this telepath couldn't complete his task, leaving behind evidence of some sort of presence. As Raphael would say it, it 'wasn't a clean job'. This also means that he didn't completely wipe your memory of the conversation between you two."

"So what you're saying, master," Leo started, "is that-"

"Little green men played around in your mind and forgot to pick up their toys," Raph chuckled.

"Yep, I'm guessing he kinda made a mess of the place," Mikey snickered. "Kinda like Donny's paper shredders."

The two offended brother shot glares at their smug, smiling siblings before their master thwapped the offending brothers on their bald, green skulls.

"Admittedly, it was a rather...informative and interesting interpretation," Splinter said, mirth in his features.

"If not a bit rude, too," Leo added, glaring at Raph. Donny was still busy staring down an unrepentant Mikey.

"Unfortunately, this is not the matter being discussed, Leonardo. However, what your brothers said was true to some point. Now, listen carefully," he instructed. "I have questions for you. These questions are relatively simple and should require no effort. Now, as a ninja, what is your greatest weapon, besides your mind? Michelangelo?"

"Stealth, master."

"And this stealth serves at least two purposes, which are…Donatello?" he called up, pointing his stick at the turtle.

"Evasion and gathering information, master."

"Yes…gathering information," Splinter said. "And keeping it safe, too. After all, what is the use of information if it isn't safe in some way?" He paused. "In the millennia past and nowadays, it does not matter which field of study you observe, information is always the most valuable asset a body can possess. This makes the bearer of information a likely target. In a world of constant battling and struggle, depending on if this information is valuable, this will increase the chances of damage by many fold. The same goes for decreasing chances of injury. Yet, as I said before, they must keep it safe. Leonardo, you have read countless writings on the various methods of torture ninja of endured. The same goes for all of you. Raphael, can you not remember when Hun captured you?" The turtle growled. "Or when Bishop captured all four of you and tried to dissect you, Michelangelo? The training I put you all through was to strengthen and brace your minds not to give out such information if under immense pressure, be it from physical torture or telepaths. These things test the true strength of the mind.

"Now, suppose this information was forgotten or misplaced. There are meditation techniques in ninjutsu that address this sort of problem. To the ordinary and untrained mind, these techniques are utterly useless. The ordinary mind, when stricken with amnesia, in many cases, can utilize explicitly familiar sights, sounds, scents, or even tastes to help itself recover a lost portion of memory. Another example would be the feel of one close to you. But to those of the strong mind, through the aid of such a technique, all that is required are a few "breadcrumbs" of the lost memory to build on and recover what has been forgotten. However, this sort of achievement is the highest yield of the technique, achievable only by those who have shown mastery of it, like the Ancient One and my master Yoshi."

"Uhh, "breadcrumbs", master?" Leo inquired.

"Keywords and hints. Things that would help with a common mistake – like forgetting an item on the grocery list. But be warned, Leonardo. This would be your first time attempting such a technique. It may be quite some time and frustration before you obtain any results – maybe even months."

"Master Splinter's right, Leo," Raph spoke up. "The Martian's a top class telepath. If he did make a mistake, it ain't gonna be easy to find."

"I still have to," Leo replied. "If the Justice League's after us, I at least want to know why. It could make all the difference."

"You sure about this, Leo?" Mikey asked.

"Positive."

"Alright, then. Let's start with the basics. Tell me what you can recall," Splinter said.

"I do remember something about Batman, an investigation, and his capture," Leo said.

"Leo, you said Batman, right? Master, if I may," Donny spoke up. Splinter nodded, giving him permission to continue. "All this talk about Batman, the Martian, and the Justice League has led me to recall a project of mine. If I'm correct, you're stressing that additional clues will increase Leo's chances of remembering, right?"

Splinter nodded.

"Then I have an idea. When we broke into the TCRI building, I pocketed a couple samples of miniature bugs." Every other mutant's face darkened, but Donny continued. "Just hear me out. The problem is, the teleport out of there somehow deactivated them, making them just tiny chunks of intriguing Utrom metal, nothing else. I've never managed to get them working again. This also means I couldn't analyze its functions or the specifics on how it worked. I tried to somehow…maybe reverse-engineer it, but there were components I somewhat understood but not replicate. So, I gave up on it.

"Then Brainiac attacked Metropolis. I snuck in there and took Brainiac tech samples from the crash site. I copied the code elsewhere, and wiped the hardware of any sign of Brainiac. It was then a simple matter of altering the copied code to make it mine. Then Luthor and metal-for-brains fused with the Dark Heart and went berserk on the Justice League in D.C. I still don't know how they did it, but they managed to separate the three. Cadmus took back what was left of the Dark Heart and tried to pry the remaining bits of Brainiac and Luthor from it. They couldn't, so they called in our friendly mad scientist Bishop and his EPA. They both managed to return the samples to their pure form, but the Dark Heart also went dormant again. And that's when I snatched another sample."

"'Snatched'?" Splinter asked.

"It's Donny for 'grabbing something you can't buy'," Mikey said.

"Lemme guess. A couple choice singers are on da government watchlist cuz you made it trace back to dem?" Raph asked.

"Among others," Donny replied, nodding his head sagely. Splinter's right eye twitched. "Though Bishop probably knows better."

"Stealing from Zanramon and the Foot, sure, I'd do that anytime of the day, but is there a single crime against regular humans we haven't committed yet?" Leo asked with hope.

"Lemme see," Donny started, "Third-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, battery, breaking and entering, grand theft auto, money laundering, hacking into government computers, conspiring with Triceratons…"

"You mean Traximus? That's a crime?" Raph asked.

"Hey, nobody can't tie that to any of us because they didn't know we did it. That or they can't prove it," Donny said. "Except for my face being plastered on TV at the United Nations by Zanramon. Though, curiously, it's like the whole UN forgot about it."

"What about hijacking or blowing up an airplane? We haven't done that," Leo said.

"No, but we did hijack Shredder's starship and blow it up. Not to mention the two Foot air bikes I also hijacked and blew up," Raph said.

"How many years do we have saved up in Riker's if they actually manage to convict us?" asked an exasperated Leo.

"I told you they can't," Donny replied. Leo gave him a stare. "Last time I checked, it was 4,421 years." Multiple groans. "Individually." Even louder multiple groans.

"Where were we before we became disturbed by Donatello's lack of morals?" Splinter groaned, feeling an even bigger headache coming on.

"Oh yeah, anyways. Cadmus and Bishop tried more experiments to get it functional again, and they were successful…sorta."

"Sorta?"

"I don't have the details to what the idiots actually did, but in trying to activate it, they devolved the sample into something relatively primitive to what it was supposed to be. It lost its primary function of consuming all forms of matter and converting it to nanites. Instead, it was traded for the ability of transforming and transmutating into any substance structure that was downloaded into it, short of unstable substances like a nuke. Considering the fact it was an alien mainframe template wiped of Dark Heart influence, they only managed to get diamond, rubber, and ink programmed into it."

Raph's mind clicked. "You mean da tires Case got off of Bishop were…"

"Yep. When they 'popped', Casey got Bishop to send him the details on how the techies first got the stuff programmed into the nanite mainframe, and from there, I just got the tires to reform themselves. It's also why there are miles of hockey mask-imprinted motorcycle tracks currently plaguing New York City."

"OK. Not that it don't sound cool, but does it have anything ta do wid da fact that Fearless Leader almost got offed by green men from Mars?" Raph quipped.

"No."

"Then get on with it, will ya? My brains starting to hurt," Mikey said, rubbing his bald skull.

"Basically, all three alone were useless to me. So I took pieces from here and there and invented my own prototype. I call it the CircuitSpy. Send it into any hardware or machinery and plugs into the mainframe from the inside and transmits the info to my computer. The fact that it's that small should mean that it has limited options. But, due to the tech, it can morph into different types of plugs and even into a flat surface. It's also somewhat of a camera. I still have to work out the graphics in it. It's one of my hacking trump cards."

"But this tool is useless if it can't access the intended computer physically," Splinter pointed out. "The Watchtower is in space."

"But the MetroTower is here on Earth, and my CircuitSpy has already infiltrated under the guise of fanmail. I'm guessing that the MetroTower and Watchtower databanks are interlinked, meaning there are one and the same."

"So it would have info on the most recent Batman-related investigation," Splinter put in.

"Most likely. Considering what Leo told us, I'm guessing Batman went off the grid in a rather disturbing way. If that's the case, the file should be there."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Leo asked.

"Batman has a habit of erasing any digital footprints of himself off the Internet. Any photos that exist of him are usually lucky, blurry shots and that JL announcement after the Brainiac attack. If any other good photos of him are out there, I get the feeling he leaves them there just to increase suspense. That's my best guess. But, anyway, he might do the same with the JL's files, even if he might be the one who designed their firewalls."

"If he did design the firewalls, would it be a problem?" Splinter inquired.

"Definitely. Considering how long he's been around and his age, he's better trained than me. I tried hacking into his signal when he flew over New York once, but I got a little in before it shut me out. There was also the fact that his plane cleared New York in less than two seconds. Anyway, I later found out WayneTech has a lot of similarities in terms of security and firewall. I've been practicing on their systems and made some headway. With the CircuitSpy, it should make the effort easier, but even with that it's still gonna be tough to get through. Batman's as paranoid as Leo and as smart, if not more, than me."

The mutant gang shivered. "C'mon Donny, I'm not that paranoid," Leo said, offended. The disbelieving stares he got in return unnerved him.

"But, if the firewalls were designed by anyone else," Donny continued, "I should be able to use the CircuitSpy and get in. However, considering it's still in prototype mode, I don't know for how long. There also a chance that they'd find the device."

"OK, let's try it then. Your computer ready?" Leo asked.

"Yep, first thing I set up."

"Is there something bothering you, Master Splinter?" the leader asked with worry as the gang walked up to the computer.

"It's nothing, Leonardo. Just some suspicions," the master replied. "But I fear there may be more to this tale than meets our eyes. Much, much more."

"Don't worry, Master Splinter. We'll keep a lookout. We always do," Leo said, putting a reassuring hand on his father's shoulder.

"I just hope it will be enough."

"OK, here we are," Donny said as he sat down. "CircuitSpy Version 1.42. Select terminal. CIA, FBI, Scotland Yard, Oval Office, Parliament, Congress…oh, here it is-MetroTower."

Leo paled. "What did you just say?" he rasped, almost afraid for an answer.

"Oh, did I mention that I sent it and other bugs to just about ever influential government institution in existence?" Ever mutant present shook their head in a dazed stupor. "My bad."

"And now espionage?"

"Donny my boy, we're supposed to be the good guys. Good guys don't spy on other good guys," Mikey said.

"What's next, identity theft?" Leo said incredulously.

"Getting there," the turtle techie responded absentmindedly while typing away furiously. " Superman's picture has been taken just about a billion times by different types of cameras. Enhance imaging. There. Retinal patterns captured. Fingerprints captured. It's all we need for now."

"Captured. Yet another term for 'grabbing something you can't buy'," Raph clarified. Leo looked like he was going to cry.

"Donny, I told you stealing from Shredder is one thing, but stealing from superheroes? Are you out of your mind?!" their leader roared. "That's another 20 years of jail!"

"27, actually," Donny said while still typing. "It's pretty minor if you consider what we already have." They were pretty sure they heard one of Leo's teeth crack.

"Jeez, Leo. Why you so worked up about this stuff alluva sudden?" Raph said.

"Because of the Technodrome incident. We cut it way too close back there. A lot of city, private, and government property was destroyed."

"Let's just get on with this, shall we?" Splinter groaned.

"OK, be warned. The CircuitSpy is still prototype. If whoever's controlling it is fast enough, they can use it as a medium to get through to us. That's why I just put this computer and terminal on a different isolated network. That way, if they do get through, my files are someplace else and so are the other terminals."

"Less geek talk, more typing," Mikey quipped.

"We're here. Give it a second. Checking recent changes to the system. It looks like Batman-related stuff isn't allowed in search. I'll have to check it manually. Hopefully won't take long…found it. Now for the encryption. This could take some time."

"I don't think we have much time before they find out that you hacked in," Leo warned.

"Don't sell me short," the techie assured.

* * *

_(up in the Watchtower)_

Unlike all the other Leaguers, Terrific was a busy man. While the others would sit around and chat with some buddies, he'd be up in the control room monitoring dangers worldwide, scanning for abnormalities, and making sure all systems were in check, all while making sure Booster doesn't use Skeets to hack into a random female Leaguer's comm records. The man's belief that people talk about him on an hourly basis was begin to border on psychopathic. Sure he had time to eat and everything, but it was almost like he couldn't enjoy simple pleasures like a good long bathroom break anymore. However, his time has been freed up quite considerably ever since J'onn came back after the Darkseid invasion. It didn't matter at the moment since it was his shift.

He set the priority level for a building collapse in Moscow and called the assigned Leaguers to the teleporter. One he got them teleported, he dropped back into his chair for a breather. He accessed several security cameras hidden around and in the tower. Eying a duo talking about his uptightness, he set off Terrific retribution in the form of overhead sprinklers. He smirked in satisfaction as the two let out a string of curses.

Before he could move on to the next victim, the computer screens suddenly switched and alarms went off in the control room.

"Precautionary Warning. Accessing Encrypted File 807," the synthetic voice called out. "Identity: Superman."

"Superman? Computer, access Superman's comm. Put me through."

"Accessing…Founder Superman is in Metropolis. Calling…"

"Hello Superman. Are you there?" Terrific said into the comlink.

"What's going on, Terrific? I only need two hours of sleep each day and you call me now?" the Kryptonian moaned.

"Sorry Superman, this is just a precaution. Are you accessing the Justice League database right now?"

"Didn't I just tell you I'm trying to sleep? Of course I'm not in the system."

"Sorry to bother you, Superman." Terrific switched to another channel. "J'onn! Get your Martian butt up here! Sombody's accessing File 807 and it ain't a Founder. They're almost through with the encryption. I need your authorization to-"

"On my way. Try to hold them off anyway you can. I'll be there in a second," the Martian said. The alien phased his way up the floors, scared many people in the process, and reappeared in the control room.

* * *

_(Lair_)

"OK, here it is," the techie said. "It says here that Batman was alerted to some underground activity concerning a package of experimental drugs. Apparently, he found out that there was one particular drug lord with a history in dealing experimental drugs and ransacked his hideout. He didn't find anything, but it turns out the drug lord had fallen from grace and was serving as an ordinary lackey under Harvey Dent, Gotham's former DA. Dent used his lackey's contacts to secure said experimental drug. Batman tracked the lackey to an alley, where the gang met up with Bane. Apparently, the experimental drug was the same Cuban venom that Bane took, plus a few enhancements. Before the League's favorite ninja could jump in, fighters with Japanese weaponry jumped in and took out both gangs. Then they took out Batman. Coincidently, another batch took out the former Boy Wonder, Nightwing, at the exact same time. These fighters were described as wearing samurai…hey, wait a minute! I've been cut off! Lemme see if I can regain control…"

* * *

_(Watchtower)_

"They accessed the database through a medium in the Metrotower. We should be able to do the reverse and hack into their computers," J'onn said.

"We?" Terrific asked as the Martian speed-typed alone while he sat in his chair.

* * *

_(Lair)_

The pack watched with nervousness as their techie was trying to re-establish the connection. "This isn't looking good. Whoever's working the computer on the other side-"

* * *

_(Watchtower)_

"-has very great skill. It's a miracle that they've managed-"

* * *

_(Lair)_

"-to get this far into our database," Donny said.

"Whaddya mean? You're saying he's better than you?" Mikey asked.

"I hope not. I could very well lose this…damnit! They hacked in!"

* * *

_(Watchtower)_

"Accessing webcam. Recording…"

* * *

_(Lair)_

"Crap! They activated the webcam!"

The family looked at the webcam for a split-second before Raph whipped out a flurry of shuriken and Leo lashed out with his katana, effectively decimating the camera and cutting their internet connection.

"Did they get anything?" asked a hyper-alert Leo.

"Just the family photo," Donny answered, typing away again.

"'Just the family photo'?" Mikey shrieked. "Before they only knew about Leo. Now they know about all of us!"

"But look what I got," the purple-banded turtle said, turning the screen.

"What's that?" the prankster asked.

"A webcam image I managed to capture."

"Is that-" Leo stuttered.

"Yep. The Martian Manhunter himself and Mister Terrific in the background," Donny explained. "I think he's going to get a shock seeing your face again, Leo."

"What else did you manage to get?" asked Splinter.

* * *

_(Watchtower)_

"A partial log of both our hacking operations plus some of our custom-made hacking tools," J'onn said.

"Those tools and logs contain secrets to our methods! They were supposed to be purged from the system!" Terrific yelled.

"They were. Like I said, whoever did this is on a level far beyond that of normal expert hackers."

"Aren't you going to view the footage and see who it is?"

"No. Not here. Not here. As of now, the footage is Founders-only. I've already placed the encryption and protection rights on it."

"Understood. Anything else?"

"Terrific, this person's skill is on a level equal or beyond your own. Even if you don't find much, at least find out how they got in. As hard as it may be to believe, I believe this attack was made within Justice League facilities. But, right now, I need you to teleport every Founder possible her to the Watchtower. I don't care what condition they are in. Understood?"

"But, Superman's asleep."

"I'll handle him," J'onn replied. Then he tapped his comm.. "Founder's meeting. NOW."

"Yea, yea. We all know the drill," moaned a now-awake Flash.

"Teleporting...now," Terrific said. Various Founders appeared on the observation deck. Some had come through teleport, while other simply used the elevator. Superman, meanwhile, was hovering horizontally 2 feet over the tele-pad in his sleep.

"Should we-" GL started.

"Allow me," J'onn interrupted. His eyes took an ominous orange glow.

* * *

_(Superman's dreamscape)_

It was the last battle they'd ever have. The ultimate fight of the century. Superman vs. Darkseid. Below, some unfortunate city lied in ruins. The Dark Master of Apokolips gave his mortal enemy a nasty right hook to the jaw. Meanwhile, the Man of Steel used the momentum to spin like a tornado and return the favor four or more times.

"Clark?" the Man of Steel looked down to find his mother standing on top of a pile of rubble.

"Hey Ma. What are you doing here?" the Kryptonian asked as he floated down and gave his mom a welcome hug. He totally abandoned his previous fight with his enemy, and said enemy didn't seem to care either. The alien dictator just stood there.

"Nothing, dear. It's just that you fell asleep and forgot to feed Krypto," Mrs. Kent replied.

"Oh. Sorry, Ma. Don't worry, I'll be right back," he promised. The hero dissipated out of his dream.

* * *

_(on the tele-pad)_

With less than a second's notice, Superman, still in his white pajama shirt and pants, woke up and supersped out of the room. Two second later, he returned with a dog bowl the size of a dinner table in one hand and a gigantic 500-pound metal bone in the other. In the dog bowl was an average-sized unopened bag of dog food. The Kryptonian dropped the bone on the tele-pad, taking out two of them. The heroes and workers on the observation deck soon forgot about the sight of the Man of Steel in his pajamas and instead began wondering where the heck he found dog food and the other stuff in the Watchtower. The Kryptonian started pouring the average-sized bag of dog food into the bowl. He soon found out the he had emptied the entire bag and the bowl still wasn't full.

"Look like we're a little short," he voiced out loud. The pajama-ed alien than put one hand on his chin and the other on his hip and took a thinking pose. After a minute, it became apparent that something had dawned on him. "Wait a minute, Ma! I don't have a dog!"

The Man of Steel turned around and the whole room erupted in laughter.

* * *

_(new Turtle lair)_

I've send out the self-destruct signal for the bug. The Justice League are already most likely trying to figure out how I got in," Donny said. "If I pour my heart and soul into the hacking log and tools, it will still take some time before I can make any use of it. This stuff is actually quite complicating."

"You're telling me," Raph snorted.

"Later on, I think I might be able to use this stuff to get back into the Justice League database. Though, this next time will undoubtedly be more dangerous. Worst case scenario, we might have to relocate to another lair because the whole Justice League showed up at our doorstep."

"Then let's take it safe from here on out. First thing, let's review what we have so far," Leo said. "These people dressed as samurai take out Bane and Gotham's former DA, Harvey Dent. Then they capture not only Batman, but the former Robin, too. And they have Japanese weapons like us. I can see why the Justice League are after us seeing as we have Japanese weaponry, but I don't get the samurai part. Any thoughts as to who these new guys are?"

"Time-travelling Yakuza samurai from the 16th century?" Mikey asked.

"That would make sense, except there were no Yakuzas in the 16th century and samurais can't time-travel!" Donny yelled.

"Hey, considering what Usagi goes through, you never know where or when he's been," Leo said.

"Hold on a minute. You weren't readin' wit us, were ya, Mikey?" Raph said.

"Nope. Just looked around the screen and found one word that was repeated a couple times."

"Huh…figures."

"Stuff it for a second, Raph," Leo said. "Maybe Mikey's on to something." He paused for a second. "Who am I kidding?!" he threw his hands up in the air.

"Hey, this happens to be important!" Mikey fumed. "The word was 'ninja'."

"But the file that we looked at was created before the Manhunter fought Leo," Donny said. "It could have been changed after or it could mean-"

"The Foot!"

"What?!" Leo roared. "That's impossible! Except for the Technodrome incident, there's been absolutely no sign of the Foot underground for at least the past two months. Heck, Karai's been funding the reconstruction of whatever was destroyed! Not like Saki who did it for his own profit!"

Splinter put a comforting paw on his son's shoulder. "I'd like to believe that, too, Leonardo, but this would not be the first time she has turned. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgment."

"No, there's something wrong about this," Leo said, brushing off his master's hand. Donny? Could you hack into the Foot network? Nothing major, I just want specifics as to Karai's whereabouts and activities since the Technodrome incident. Note any connection between her and Gotham."

"On it."

"Wait a minute, Leo," Raph said. "As much as I love takin' down goons like da Purple Dragons and da Foot anytime of da day anyway possible, don'chya t'ink dis is a bit unnecessary? Justice League said that de idiot who took da Bat have weapons like us. Da Foot would be one 'a dem. If I'm not mistaken, da Bat is a one-man army like the rest of us. He'd be able to take down a squad same as us, too. But, if you pile'em like they did at the wedding, he'd have trouble. It's pretty cut and dry. No need to hack in to find dat out."

"No, it'd make too much noise. Something like that would've made the news by now or at least made a stir in New York's underworld."

"I'm in," Donny called from the computer.

"What do you have?" Leo asked.

"Well, for one thing, Leo's right. Ever since the Technodrome incident, Karai's been quiet. Funds for the reconstruction, city hall petitions, the usual. In fact, it's so quiet that it feels like she's hiding something big."

"That's normal. It's what we ninjas do," Mikey quipped. "And, hello? Karai? She could have a plan to build another planet up in space in case the Earth dies out and she still wouldn't tell us."

"That's not what I meant. A long time ago, Karai installed retinal scanners, fingerprint scanners, and other top-of-the-line state-of-the-art security measures to make sure an imposter didn't steal her identity."

"More paranoid ninjas. Great," Raph drawled. "She'd be perfect for you, Leo." The leader scowled.

"Moving on. For the past couple days, it's been Karai checking in as usual. It's like she evened out her usual mayhem and put it in a schedule. It's rhythmic."

"So, you're saying it is her, but not the 'her' we know," the prankster confirmed. The techie nodded. "Well, guess that means that Karai's a dupe," Mikey continued. "Lotta good her security system did her."

"What about the security cameras?" their master asked.

"She doesn't have any in her office or any other place she frequents. Just the normal radio system and telephones to contact her ninja and stuff," Donny replied.

"What about the cameras that are in some of the ninjas' masks?" Leo inquired.

"There's a program installed that edits out photos of senior personnel, like Chaplain and Karai."

"Well, guess that means we're paying Karai a visit," Leo proclaimed. "You coming, Master?"

"No, thank you, Leonardo. I still need my hourly cup of tea and Richard's expected to propose in 30 minutes. Next time."

"OK. Ya need anything from Chinatown?" Raph asked.

The elder handed Donny a USB flash drive. "Not Chinatown. Someplace else. The file is in here. You had best go there before going to Karai. The store opens quite early." The turtle took it and plugged it into his ShellPad.

"Master, since when do you write down shopping list on a computer?" Mikey asked.

"Since the list is one and a half gigabytes big," Donny replied. "Master, a normal shopping list is at most around 20 kilobytes. How much stuff you want us to get?"

"Find out when you get there," the master grinned.

* * *

_(on the road)_

"Tell me again why we brought the Battleshell wid us?" Raph asked. He nervously clutched his seat as Mikey made a sharp turn over the curb. Apparently, something in the new touches Donny made recently had inspired a new mindset in the young turtle. A mindset that didn't mind driving on 3 wheels instead of 6. "And why'd we let Mikey drive?" Their faces took another shade of green.

"To answer your first question," Donny said while typing on his pad, "we most likely won't be able to carry the stuff home on foot like we usually do."

"Why don'chya jus' look at da list and see?" Raph replied.

"Well, because I've been editing some of my programs and making them a tad simpler to understand so even you guys have a chance to work them. Apparently, Master Splinter set this to open only when the GPS says we've gotten to Dandy's Supermart. By the time I manage to crack this, we'll already be there."

"So, again, why'd we bring the Battleshell wid us?" Raph repeated.

"Because April and Casey said that their van was trashed by a porcupine Foot mutant during the Technodrome invasion," Leo said. "They also said they'd take you up on that offer for a free repair, Raph."

"I made dat offer years ago! You saw the size of those mutants. The van should probably be heading to the trash heap right now!"

"And if it can be repaired?" Leo said.

"Let Case do it! He knows as much about cars as I do!"

"Raph…"

"Ah, fine. But don't blame me if I pack something special in the bonehead's seat." Moments passed. "Why's Mikey driving again?"

"Because he dumped a bucket full of water onto the driver's seat and he was the only turtle willing to sit in an experimental plush foam polymer ejection seat soaked with water. That's why," Donny groaned. Mikey didn't give any sign that he heard what Donny said as he tossed a couple tire spikes at a guy who cut him off. He also seemed unfazed as the guy started shouting obscenities and took out his phone to call 911. That or the tow truck.

"Why does it seem that Master Splinter wants us out of the lair?" Leo moaned. "And that this is going to be a long night?"

"Well, apparently because the Dandy's Supermart that he sent us to is near the edge of Queens," Donny replied.

"Queens!" Leo and Raph shouted in disbelief.

"And because Mikey just took a wrong turn and we're now heading to New Jersey."

"Mikey's in his own little world, isn't he?" Leo asked.

"Yep."

"We're not going to finish shopping before they open, are we?"

"Nope."

"Yo Donny! We got a spare blanket in the back?" Raph asked.

"Yea, why?"

"Just asking," he replied as he pinched a nerve on Mikey's neck. The turtle slumped in his chair as the two in the back seat mentally thanked Raph. Unfortunately, this also meant nobody was at the wheel, causing the Battleshell to careen off the road and slam head-on full into an empty garbage dumpster, flatten it, and send it through a wall to the other side into a factory loading bay. The workers managing the forklifts paused to stare at the flattened, twisted metal abomination that now occupied their loading dock and looked at the perpetrators backing out and speeding off. Then they looked back at said flattened, twisted metal abomination.

"I'm not cleaning that up."

* * *

_(on top of the store)_

"OK, here we are," Donny said. Raph flipped up to the top beside him. "You parked the Battleshell in the alley, Raph?"

"Yep. Scared a few punks, too."

"So that's what the screaming was all about," Mikey said.

"Hey, they got what was comin' to them."

"On to more important things," Leo said. "Donny, can you open the file now?"

"Yea. By the way, remind me to delete that stupid program when I get home. OK, here it is. Hey! It's just a normal list. Milk, cookies, raisin muffins, bread, the usual. The only thing wrong is that there are two videos here, and one's bigger than a gigabyte. That's why the file seemed so big."

"Play the first one," Raph said.

With a simple flick, a video opened showing a lady in her 20s in front of a mirror. "Send me/a postcard/from China!" she started singing. The song continued with the brothers flabbergasted with the outrageously annoying song. When it came to an end, a recording of Master Splinter came up on the screen.

"Hello, boys," the recording said. "I'll keep this short. You're driving me crazy. So, as such, I've sent you a wild goose chase. Leonardo is living proof that even those who engage in rigorous meditation sometimes snap. And I have more things to say. Yes, that little incident with Michelangelo driving was my fault. There's a certain scent that he is very susceptible to. So, if you don't want him to do it again, the odor is coming from the left hand corner of the dashboard. Two more things. This specific store sells a particularly delicious homemade caramel that I do enjoy. Please get that for me. Also, there is a cashier who usually works at counter 2. His name is Norman Roswell. He's also a bookie and owes me 2000 dollars. Please leave a note. Also, a warning, do not play this next video unless you want to sit there watching soap operas for 4 hours. Now, do enjoy your time topside," Splinter closed with a smile.

The four mutants just stood there and gaped at the empty screen, not believing that they had just been conned by their own master.

"What did he just do?" Raph said, more to himself than the others.

"He's evil!" Leo exclaimed.

"You know, I'm kinda surprised Leo just admitted that," Mikey quipped.

"Well, that's the highlight of my evening," Donny said. "So…let's go shopping."

* * *

_(on the road again)_

"How'd the bill get so high?!" Raph shouted, looking at the receipt.

"Because Master Splinter sent us to Queens," Mikey said. "What'd you think would happen?"

"Though, what Master Splinter said about Leo was true," Donny remarked. Leo grumbled as he drove.

After 15 minutes, they pulled up to a building adjacent to Saki Tower.

"We got the grappling hooks ready?" Raph asked.

"Yea, although your rope is a little thinned out, Raph," Mikey replied.

"Just shut up and give it to me."

* * *

_(Inside Saki Towers)_

"So, Leo, where's Karai's office?" Raph asked.

"You're asking me? She changes it every week. Ask Donny."

All heads turned to the techie. The techie stared back. "Why can't you guys just find that out yourselves?" Moments passed and the stares did not subside. "Fine. Right now, it's 15 floors above us."

"OK, someone find an elevator," Leo said. With a simple push, Donny put his hand through the wall, disabling the hologram that was hiding the elevator. "OK, found one."

"Remember when we were last here?" Mikey said as he stepped in.

"I'd rather not," Raph replied.

"You think there are any Foot elite waiting to pop in and take us out?" Mikey pushed. Raph slapped his head and then conversation stood there for a while. When the doors opened, they cautiously walked into Karai's extravagant office. With every step, they seemed to grow more cautious.

"Hello, Leonardo," Karai said from the corner. Everyone freaked and brought out their weapons in an instant. Karai walked out from the shadows and was dressed in a normal business suit. "It is alright. I do not intend to harm you."

"Save it."

"I am telling the truth. I am unarmed at the moment."

All the turtles except Leo cautiously put their weapons away. Leo still remained in battle stance and did not move.

"Leonardo? Why do you persist? I truly am unarmed," Karai said.

"She's got a point, Leo," Mikey said.

"She's not Karai," Leo said.

"What are you talking about? Same face, same accent, same bad hair…it's got to be her," Mikey replied.

"No, it's not her. Her stance and the way she walked. That's not how Karai walks," Leo said.

"How perceptive of you," Karai replied. With that, all their weapons were out again. "You're correct. I am not Karai. I am a life-model decoy, prototype version. I possess the original Karai's memories and characteristics. As I am a prototype, I have yet not been given weapon or fight protocols."

The four ninjas put their weapons away. "If you're here, where's the real Karai?" Raph asked.

"She has taken a leave of absence. My mission is to assume her position when she has been indisposed."

"Do you know where she is exactly?" Leo asked.

"Negative. It isn't my objective to know. I was with the master when she said that she had been called away."

"If you were there, wouldn't you know who called her?" Leo asked.

"Negative. I was indeed with the master. However, she transferred my memory of the event to a separate drive and cut it up right in front of my optic receptors. The only reason I know that she was to be indisposed was because she told me."

"That's why your actions have been schedulized and rhythmic," Donny said. "Your functions were programmed that way."

"Affirmative. As I said, except for the stance and walk, I possess the characteristics of the original Karai in addition to a few scanning systems to measure up to the master's senses. I also possess the voice, mannerisms, retinal pattern, fingerprints, and a DNA sample of the original Karai."

"Do you know anything else that may help us find Karai?" Leo said.

"The master reprogrammed some of my functions before she left to ensure I would not be able to track her. These functions can be overwritten, but it is too late to start. I have compared my master's normal voice patterns to her voice patterns right before she left. My conclusion indicates that the situation was very urgent."

"Thank you," Leo said as he bowed. The robot returned the favor. "You've been most helpful. C'mon, let's go."

The rest of the ninjas followed their brother out the door. "Ya think she's lying?" Raph asked. "Maybe we can plug her into one 'a Donny's machines and see."

"She's telling the truth," Leo said.

"And how do you know dat, fearless leader?"

"She has the same mannerisms as Karai, remember?"

"But, even then," Donny said, "there were noticeable differences between her attitude and Karai's. She didn't necessarily have that snide tone. Mostly likely due to the fact she's a robot. You think we can still trust her?"

"Trust her? Don't know." Leo said. "Believe her? Most likely."

* * *

_(Watchtower)_

The situation in the Founder's room was tense. However, only some of it was due to the ongoing case of Batman's disappearance. The rest of it was due to the lost hours of sleep most of the Founders were just cheated out of. Said leaguers sent not-so-subtle glares in the Manhunter's direction, which he shrug off.

"Here's what's new," J'onn started off. "Someone accessed the Justice League database from within one of our facilities using Superman's identity."

"So that's why Terrific woke me up," the Kryptonian grumbled.

"They also broke the encryption on the Batman case file and got in. I don't know how much of the info they retrieved before I shut them out."

"Did they get anything else?" GL asked.

"No. They seemed to only target the Batman case file itself."

"Wait, if they were looking for the file, how'd they even know Bats was missing? The only people that know Bats is gone are us, the Bat's kids, and the giant turtle that gave you the slip."

"First of all," J'onn said. "That giant turtle's name was Leonardo." The other Founders gave the Martian a "you've got to be kidding me" look. "Second, I wiped his memory our meeting. Or, most of it anyway."

"So, that brings us back to 'who knows that Batman is missing' and 'who actually did this'," Shayera said.

"I did manage to hack their webcam and record some footage," the Martian said.

"OK, that solves the problem," said Diana. "Who is it?"

"I haven't seen the footage yet. I'm trying to keep this case as secret as possible, so I marked it Founders-only."

"So? Let's see it," said Superman.

With a click, the TV on the far wall lit up and displayed the opening shot. It showed four huge turtles together with a huge rat in front of the computer. The other Leaguers had a bewildered look on their faces, while J'onn shot up from his seat in surprise and slight fear.

"It's him," J'onn managed to say as he pointed to the blue-banded turtle. "That's Leonardo."

"Woah" was the common response to the revelation.

"Man are they big!" the Green Lantern said.

"It looks like you hit the jackpot, big guy," Flash said. "The family photo. And the weirdest one I've ever seen, too."

"Good work, J'onn," Superman complimented.

"Not necessarily," the Martian replied. "It would seem that this purple-banded turtle is the one controlling the computer. He's actually skilled enough that he stole some hacking logs, hacking programs, and a webcam shot of me and Terrific."

"Ouch," Shayera winced. "You're getting rusty, J'onn. But, enough of that. Just play the stupid footage, will you?"

The Martian played the video. _"Crap! They activated the webcam!" _the purple-banded turtle said.

There was a split-second delay before the red-banded let loose some throwing stars and the leader swung his sword. What remained on the video screen was static with a "NO VIDEO" tag. This all happened in a second.

"Woah. I take back what I say," Flash said. "Those guys are fast."

"Those aren't normal turtles," Superman stated. "Not to mention the rat, too. Who is he?"

"When I probed the blue one's mind, I sensed a bond between him and the mutant rat. The bond was of a father/son sort. The father, the rat, goes by the name of Splinter, I believe. As for the other turtles, he had bond that of a brother."

"So it's just one big happy mutant family," Flash quipped.

"There was also the term 'Elantian' that I managed to pull from his mind," the Martian said.

"We should probably ask around about that," GL said.

"Discreetly. Very discreetly," the Martian warned.

A beep indicating an incoming call flashed up on the table's comm. J'onn hit the answer button and a hologram of Terrific appeared in the middle of the table.

"J'onn, I got something urgent," Terrific said. "I got someone on hold that needs to talk to you."

"Why can't this wait until the meeting is done?" the Thanagarian asked.

"Because he said to mentioned the keyword 'File 807'," Terrific said. "I think this might be our guy."

"Do you know who he is?" Diana asked.

"Nope. He only said he show his face to the Founders."

"Forward the call to us, Terrific," Superman said. "Maybe now we can get some answers."

Terrific nodded and cut his feed. Next thing that appeared on the hologram was a gray hand covering the webcam.

"Whoever you are," Diana said, "you can show your face. We're here as requested."

The hand withdrew to reveal the imposing form of the turtles' master. "Splinter," J'onn said, surprised.

"I shouldn't be impressed that you know my name. You were after all in my son's mind," the master said.

"Apologies. This situation is very urgent," the Martian replied.

"Indeed it is. My family took a look into that file that you called 'File 807'. My sons did not read fast enough before you severed the connection. All they know is that those two were captured at the same time, nothing more. In fact, they are on a wild goose chase around the city looking for answers as to why the word 'ninja' was in the file."

"Then why are you calling us? The information you have right now is shouldn't merit a call to us," the Green Lantern said.

"Because I can read much, much faster," the master grinned, pointing to his head, "and I know everything you know about the current situation, plus a thousandfold."

"Uh oh," the speedster said.

"Not to worry. I'm very good at keeping secrets. However, I have information for you, too. But, I have conditions. If my son cannot do it himself, you will restore his full memory when I tell you. I've already been working with him on method to regain it."

"Go on," the Martian said.

"Have you ever heard of the Shredder?" the master asked.

"I saw a glimpse of him in your son's mind. Karai Saki and the Utrom Ch'rell," J'onn said.

"Do you have any contact with individuals knowledgeable in the mystic arts?" the master asked again.

"Yes, we have a Leaguer named Doctor Fate," Superman said. "What he got to do with this?"

"Ask him about the Shredder. He should know."

"Wait, didn't Batman rattle off that Fate was right about everything?" Superman said. "How did we miss that?"

"Ask him about Oroku Saki," Splinter said.

"The façade that Ch'rell took as the head of Saki Industries?" J'onn asked.

"Yes. Ask him about the origins specifically. Tell Fate that one of the acolytes told you."

"Acolytes?" Diana asked. "Acolytes of who?"

"Again," said the master. "Ask Fate."

"Now we come back to the important question," Shayera said. "Where's Batman?"

"He's in a secluded monastery in the mountains of Japan. Don't worry, he's safe. Also, don't bother trying to scan for him or finding him. Technology is useless in these matters and greater telepaths have tried to pierce the veil. The only way you'll find him is with a guide. That's all I can tell you. "

"And, would you happen to be one who knows its location?" GL asked.

"Yes. But don't bother to teleport here. I'm in a closed internet café and able to escape quite quickly. After all, I am Leonardo's master. I taught him everything he knows."

"You're right. We won't be able to catch you," J'onn admitted. The other Leaguers looked insulted at the apparent snub of their abilities. "You have a deal. Do you have any other information that may be of help to us?"

"No. However, if you wish to talk again, make sure to have Superman sighted near Saki Industries and I will call again."

"What of your sons? Do you plan on telling them?" the Martian asked.

"No. All will unravel in time," the master said. With that, he cut the transmission.

* * *

**So? What do you think? Splinter, a traitor? Alright, time for another discussion. I know it has been at least a year since I posted a chapter, but I have jobs and assignments to finish. I'm SOOO sorry to my fans. You deserve much better than this. However, the plot is beginning to take shape and should be easier to right from here on out. As a treat, there should be pics of new weapons and other cool stuff drawn by me and a friend coming out soon. The links will be posted in a separate update chapter or on my profile page. So please review and subscribe.**

**Cheers,**

**revoltninja**


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